Immortal
by suckishLEMONADE
Summary: Green light shot out from the rocks, then was gone as quickly as it had come. The night was dark, so not much could be seen, other than the shine of red eyes and a grin, showing zipper like teeth. She thought she had killed him.  She was wrong. ZAGR
1. Prologue

**Quick author's note: Hi. This is kind of a continuation of a Futurama/IZ crossover I did, but you don't have to read it to get this one. It was really small, like a prequel-short or something. Anyway, this'll be long probably. I don't own anything but the idea, blah blah blah. Have fun random strangers!**

The purple haired girl sped forward in her stolen spaceship, weaving through the trees as she was being chased by a pissed alien.

Yeah, she had stolen it, so freaking what? She was bored and there was nothing else to do. Yeah, she could've played her Game Slave 2, if the stupid little green creep hadn't stolen it for expiriments. His _real_ payback would come later.

A mountain came up in front of her suddenly, and for a second, she didn't know where to turn. She noticed a cave, so she decided to ditch the ship and go on foot. She sped up, zooming straight into the side of the mountain, and jumped out just in time. She walked up to the cave, ignoring the explosion behind her, and went in.

About a yard in, she heard another explosion and guessed the alien had done the same she had. She started running and looked over her shoulder at the charred pursuer. Apparently, he had been too stupid to actually jump out of the ship before it exploded. Idiot.

She kept running, and soon the light from outside had dissapeared and it was pitch black. She had to run her hand along the slimy walls to be sure she didn't walk right into them. Listening to the sounds of his steps, she guessed he was a few feet behind her. Then, she noticed they stopped.

That could only have meant one thing.

She went faster, and soon heard the metal clicking of the spider legs that no doubt had come out of his PAK, some wierd alien device that gave him most of his otherworldy abilities.

A light emerged from far away in front of the girl, and she went towards it, thinking it was the other side of the tunnel, but she was wrong. It wasn't daylight, it was something in the cave. Something that glowed.

Once she reached it, she saw that she was at a dead end. Well, since she was already caught, she might as well have seen what it was. She picked up the glowing object and saw that it was some radioactive can of pop. Poop, to be exact. Poop Cola. Something that had happened about a year ago itched at her brain, but she had no time to think about it.

She shook the can as hard as she could, then waited.

Everything was eerily silent, apart from her vibrating can. She shook it a little more. Suddenly, something dropped from above her, and she opened the tab of the can, watching as a glowing liquid sprayed her attacker. He screeched, and she could see smoke rising from his skin.

"THE PAIN! THE PAIN!"

"Whiner." the girl taunted as she bagan to walk away, half a can of radioactive Poop still in her hand.

Her foot shot forward as she stepped on the edge of the puddle the unconsious alien was laying in. She fell, soaking herself in the strange liquid. She felt a strange feeling overcoming her, a feeling of power. Every power she had, human or otherwise, strengthened by a thousandfold.

She stood up and realized she was taller, and that she was glowing. She turned to the wet cave wall and looked at herself. She looked older, maybe 18, and her hair was longer, about down to her waist. She looked at her hand and saw black energy dancing from finger to finger. Turning to her pursuer, the energy grew.

She looked at him, and saw that next to his twitching body his human-looking contacts were laying on the ground. "Well, Zim," she said softly, noting her adult sounding voice and aiming her hand at the cieling over him. "I hope you enjoyed your last day."

The dark energy shot out of her hand and hit the top of the cave. The whole mountain began to shake, and she ran out. She stood in the forest and watched as the mountain collapsed, killing the troublesome little alien.

She walked away, feeling something in the pit of her stomach. The more she tried to figure out what it was, the more it grew, so she decided to ignore it and finally go through with what she'd been planning for years. And that little idiot was finally out of the way.

Enjoy your payback, Zim.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

It was nighttime, and still nobody had noticed that the mountain had collapsed. All was silent in the forest, until the pile of rubble began vibrating. Green light shot out from the rocks, then was gone as quickly as it had come.

The night was dark, so not much could be seen, other than the shine of red eyes and a grin, showing zipper like teeth. She thought she had killed him.

She was wrong..


	2. Intruder

A shadow crept through the night, hiding behind anything it could find, a wall, a spaceship, or a crate delivering shipments of pizza. It crept closer and closer to what looked like a giant, demonic castle. Once it was a few yards away from two green-skinned guards, standing under a floodlight, it stopped.

It cautiously peeked around the corner at the guards while they were distracted by a game of rock paper scissors, and seemed to take a deep breath. Then, it cautiously stepped out from behind it's shelter and casually walked to another crate, making sure the guards saw it. The guards immediatley grabbed him and put his arms behind his back, whispering to each other about the intruder that had been prowling around for the past week or so. They pushed the shadow through the back door of the castle, the one they were guarding, and stopped inside to tie his hands, still behind his back, together.

One of them pulled a sack out of his pocket and pulled it over the intruder's head. As they continued to walk down the halls, they were suspicious of the intruder's extreme calmness and lack of struggle.

"Hey," one of them poked it in the arm. "You."

The intruder didn't reply, only kept walking along with them willingly.

"Hey, we're talking to you!" the other one said, clearly getting irritated.

Still, it didn't answer.

"Maybe," the first one whispered. "Maybe he's waiting for us to ask him something."

"Is that true?" the second asked, quite forcefully.

The intruder stopped walking. Quietly, he spoke.

"I have the right to remain silent, do I not?" the guards barely heard the seemingly male voice, but they understood. They exchanged glances and shrugged, then kept walking.

They walked for a long time, through the huge castle, and the intruder noticed several other workers whispering about him. He guessed he was a prize, since he had been noticed around the castle several times. He wondered if these guards were going to get a promotion.

Probably, but of course they didn't deserve it. He had been caught on purpose.

He had taunted guards, soldiers, delivery people, and several other workers with his presence, not to mention innocent passerby. As soon as he was an inch out of their reach, he seemed to dissapear. Under his hood, he smiled, thinking of the confused faces he had seen. They would most likely never realize that he had run away so fast they didn't see him leave.

Finally, they stopped, and the guards slipped the hood off of the intruder's head. He examined the door they were going through, and noticed it's symbol. A skull was there now, though under the peeling paint he could recognize an old symbol that had once meant a lot more than the skull did. It had stood for a whole race once.

The doors slid open, and someone was inside, their back facing him. He smiled, almost looking smug. He had finally made it into the throne room. In a moment, he was about to meet an old friend, who, over the long time he hadn't seen them, they had grown powerful. They would probably try to imprison him before they killed him, which was the inevitable decision.

All part of the plan.

**An Author's Note (which will hopefully be rare): Sorry about the short chapter. I was trying to make it longer, and I'll try with the other ones, but I just couldn't find any more filler stuff. By the way, one of the genres is romance, but probably not gonna be too much fluff. Mosly violence, suspense, and exitement! Yay! But some fluff is probable!**


	3. Old Friend

The Over Lord, as she perferred to be called, sat bored on her throne. Her head was in the past, as it always was when she had nothing to do. She remembered how she had taken over several different galaxies, all but the Milky Way, which was off-limits. That stupid purple-haired cyclops woman had made sure of that.

She remembered what she had seen on the day she met her alleged great-great-great-great(ect.) neice. They had some sort of orb that saw into the future, and she had seen herself taking over the universe. She had also seen herself with someone, but of course that was impossible now. She had made sure of that personally.

She felt that pain in the pit of her stomach that always seemed to be there when she thought of it. She hoped she wasn't getting an ulcer, which would be wierd, since she was immortal.

"Gaz, my lord," a voice came from the intercom speaker built into the arm of her throne, interrupting her thoughts. She pressed a button on the arm and said, clearly annoyed, "Yeah, what is it?"

"The intruder has been caught."

"The one who's been prowling around the castle for over a week now?"

"We believe so. He's been captured by guards L23 and Q87. They're standing outside the door."

Gaz sighed. "Great. Send 'em in," she said unemotionally. She stood up and faced the back wall, which she always did when an intruder was caught.

Some 1,000 year old organazition called the Resisty had been sending several agents, but they were all captured. She chose to not look at them until she absolutely had to, since after the struggle with the guards, they were usually pretty grotesque.

She heard the door slide open and blew a strand of purple hair out of her face in annoyance.

"Look, you people have no chance of infiltrating my base, now, are you going to go back to wherever you came from in peace or are we going to have to kill another one of you idiots?"

"Well, little Gaz, I expected a bit more of a 'hello' than that."

Gaz's eyes widened in horror. That voice was so familiar. It couldn't have been _him,_ she had killed him over 1,000 years ago! She turned around slowly to face the intruder and almost had a heart attack.

Although he looked different, it was definitley him.

Zim.

He was much taller, maybe a bit taller than her. His eyes were shaped like that of a normal human's, but were still red. Gaz remembered the day she had soaked him with the supposedly "mystic" can of Poop Cola. His contacts had fallen off, but his wig was still on.

And now, his fake hair seemed to have rooted itself into his skull. It had grown longer and spikier.

Gaz was horrified. "H-how...but I..." She couldn't get a full sentance out without stuttering. The only thing she could say clearly was, "Zim."

"Yes, it's me." He smiled smugly. "Thought you killed me, didn't you, Gaz? Well, you were completely mistaken."

"How?"

"Apparently, the cola took a bit longer to soak into my skin than it did to soak into yours, but it worked just as well."

He glanced around the room.

"I see you've succeded in taking over most of the world. Impressive work. Even adding insult to injury by making my home planet your base after you thought you killed me."

Gaz just stood there and stared at him.

"Yes," he went on. "Impressive indeed. I'm just sorry old Dib-Human wasn't here to witness it."

Gaz's stare turned into a glare.

"What are you trying to say?"

"Not much, just that, it's ironic how I was by his side when he died, his once greatest enemy, and his sister was off, not even thinking about him."

"How DARE you?" Gaz stepped closer, her rage igniting. "How dare you talk to me like that! I could have you squashed like a bug in an instant and barely lift a finger!"

"Ah, so you think, naive little Gaz, but I'm just as strong as you, possibly stronger. It would take a lot more than a single finger to destroy me."

"You ignorant little piece of shit!"

For a while, they just glared at each other. "Imprison him in the dungeon until I can think of a death slow and agonizing enough to suit this little waste of space." Gaz said after what seemed like forever, addressing the guards but not taking her eyes off Zim.

The guards pulled the sack back over Zim's head, confused about what had just happened, but choosing not to question their Over Lord. As they led him out of the room, Zim turned his head towards Gaz.

"Well, it was really nice seeing you. Gir says hi." he said pleasantly, as if nothing had happened. Gaz wondered what that could have meant, but something else took over her thoughts. She thought back to the day when she thought she had killed Zim, but the pain she had felt was gone.

She sat back down in her throne and thought over what had just happened. None of it made sense.

None of it.


	4. Gir

Zim's eyesight was amazingly strong, strong enough that he could easily see through the fibers of the fabric in the sack on his head. The guards led him down a long staircase, with a torch hung on the wall every few feet. Soon, they arrived at the dungeon. They walked past several prisoners, and each of their faces showed signs of having been beaten by guards and soldiers.

The guards holding his arms stopped in front of the last cell, ripped the sack off his head, and threw him down. They slammed the door shut just as a voice came from a little microphone clipped to their uniforms.

"Guards L23 and Q87, please report to the briefing room for a reward." They smiled and left quickly, leaving Zim alone with only his thoughts.

First of all, he wondered why there were stairs instead of an elevator. He guessed Gaz liked to keep things like they were in her time.

He knew he had probably crossed the line when he mentioned Dib's death to her. Of course, his personality had been cloned and downloaded into a hologram, his smart mind was too much to just let die, but Zim needed to make Gaz angry if he wanted to end up in the dungeon. If they had killed him immediatley, his plan wouldn't work. He needed to make them want to torture him for a while.

He realized that someone was trying to contact him and made his video projector slide out of his PAK. He was surprised that nobody had checked him for weapons. An image flashed up in front of him, but it was so dark he could only see a small bit of blue light.

"Hello?" he said quietly.

"HI THERE!" the voice on the other end yelled happily.

"Shh, Gir! Do you want to be caught and torn apart limb from limb?"

"Maaaaayyybeeeeee..."

"Look, just come quickly. Can you still get my coordinates from underground?"

"I think so."

"Good. Try not to get caught."

The video projector retracted back into his PAK, and Zim thought of his little robot servant. Of course, over 1,000 years, he had to keep fixing it, and eventually decided to just download it's memory into a new identical body. Gir was now as good as new.

He sat for about 15 minutes, lost in his thoughts, until finally a small shadow crept up in front of his cell. It slid between two of the bars on the door, and under the pitiful little lightbulb in the middle of the cell, Zim could just make out his eyes and grinning face.

"Did you do what I said?"

"Yeah, of COURSE I did!"

"You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?"

"NOPE!"

"Shh, Gir, be quiet!" Zim whispered. "Remember those things I told you to get for me before you came?"

"Oh, yeah!"

There was a moment awkward silence.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Did you get the supplies?"

"Yeah!"

Gir dumped a few things out of his head. Zim couldn't really see the small pile of things on the floor.

"Um, what did you bring?"

"I brought a muffin and some waffles!"

"That's it?"

"Noooo, I also brought a taco!"

"So you didn't get ANYTHING I told you to get?"

"Oh, that stuff, yeah I brought the rope and the little drill thingy."

"Good."

"I also brought your googlsies in case you wanted to go swimmin'!"

"Goggles, Gir."

"Aww," Gir said sadly. "But gogglsies is funner to say!"

Zim sighed in annoyance. "Whatever, Gir, let's just get out of here."

"How we gonna do that?"

Zim looked up at the air-conditioning vent that was almost invisible. A normal person of any planet would never have been able to see it.

"Don't worry,Gir." He smiled. "I have a plan."


	5. Lord Gaz

Gaz plopped back down into her chair in annoyance. 'What the hell is "Gir says hi," supposed to mean, anyway?'

Another call came in from the arm of her throne. "Gaz, my lord."

"What now?"

"Well, er," the voice sounded a little afraid, You NEVER wanted to get Lord Gaz angry. "If it's alright with you, ma'am, you're due in the Main Hall to promote guards L23 and Q87."

"Yes, fine, at least it's something to do."

She stood up and began walking to the Main Hall. Her throne room was one of the furthest places from the Main Hall in the castle, but because of her superhuman speed, she was there in less than a minute.

She stood in front of the two guards and glared at them. They stood there nervously, fidgeting with their uniform gloves.

"Guards L23 and Q87, you're hereby promoted to soldiers." Gaz said, clearly bored. "You'll have the chance to achieve higher and higher military ranks and maybe even get the chance to protect me personally. Hurrah," she added sarcastically.

They stood there, staring at her happily.

"Okay, you're promoted, leave."

The new soldiers turned and left, talking exitedly to one another. Gaz then left for her room, telling her royal messenger to tell her organizer to move all the rest of the day's crap to tomorrow. He nodded and ran away.

She took her time getting to her room, not bothering to use her super speed. All of the castle workers bowed when she passed, but she ignored them completely. She was lost in her thoughts again, wondering what Zim's sudden appearance was supposed to even mean.

Why would he just let himself be caught? If he was about as strong as her, as he claimed to be, he should have escaped them easily! Her mind wandered to how much he had changed, at least on the outside. He was definatley taller, and it seemed like his 'fake' hair grew naturally now.

He actually looked pretty, well, cool. Maybe even- 'Okay, don't even go there,' she thought, shaking her head. She stopped and looked around, realizing she had taken a wrong turn. Suddenly, she heard shreiking and saw something falling.

She converted her mind to super speed, and the object seemed to fall in slow motion. She held out her hand and a beam of dark energy held the object in place. She examined it and it looked like a turkey. Must've been her dinner.

The chef ran out and stopped cold when she saw Gaz. She looked at her sideways.

"I think you dropped something." She moved the beam holding the turkey above the chef's hands, then let it go. The chef caught it, relief and worry on her face at the same time.

"Don't let it happen again." Gaz began walking away.

"My apologies, my lord. I promise, I will do better." she bowed.

"Yeah, yeah." Gaz kept walking, now taking an alternative route to her room. She stopped in front of her door and stared at the peeling paint for a moment, making a mental note to get it repainted. Her eyes wandered to the familiar drawing she had posted onto it, one she had made over 1,000 years ago. It was of a piggy that anyone else but her would find creepy, and under it were the words 'Go Away' in the handwriting she used to have as a kid.

She smiled faintly, something she hardly ever did, and remembered those days. She had been mean, dark, creepy, and powerful. She really hadn't changed much, had she?

Already beginning to unstrap her boots, she flung open the door and locked it behind her. Her room was full of stuffed animals, rigged to destroy anything at her command. She looked into her gothic vanity mirror and took off her crown.

She stared into her own eyes and saw that her neutural face was as frightening as ever. Good.

She reached her hands behind her back and started unzipping her dress, getting read for bed. She only got the zipper about an inch down before she turned around to get her pajamas. What she saw stopped her in her tracks and made her blood run cold.

An unwanted visitor had snuck into her room.


	6. Doom

"Gir, my drill!"

"Say please!"

"Ugh...Why do I...Alright, fine, _please._"

"Please what?"

"Gir!"

"No, seriously, I forgot."

Zim sighed. A few moments earlier he had jumped up to the vent and he was now clinging to the cieling. He checked that his suction-cup shoes were in working order, then released his grasp and hung from the cieling, glaring at Gir face-to-face.

Gir stared at him for a moment, then grinned.

"What?" Zim asked, irritated.

"You're upside down!"

"Yes, I realize that Gir. Now, would you _please_ hand me the freaking drill?"

"Pretty please!"

"GIR!"

"Alright, alright." Gir bent down and picked up the small drill, handing it to his master. Zim bent back towards the cieling with ease, drilling through the corners of the vent. In a matter of minutes, the vent cover had fallen to the floor and he was helping his faithful robot servant climb into the air vent.

Zim began crawling through the vent, reluctantly letting Gir ride on his back.

"One word out of you and you're going through the next opening in the vent, do you hear me?" Zim whispered. Gir turned red for a moment and saluted, then converted back to his normal blue.

They crawled for a few minutes. Zim thought it was exruciatingly slow, but he was forced not to use his super speed, because if he did the fabric of his pants might have actually melted the metal of the vent and sent him crashing down on some unexpecting servant.

And nobody wanted that.

He noticed that they were over another opening and looked down. He saw a floating turkey and decided to move on, hoping he hadn't suddenly gone insane. He moved forward for a minute, then noticed slurping sounds. He stopped directly above another opening and looked at Gir angrily.

Gir was eating a chicken leg dipped in mayo, which annoyed Zim immensly.

"Gir," he whispered as quietly as possible. "Stop that!"

Gir just smiled and started jumping on Zim's back.

"Gir, what're you-" he didn't get to finish, because suddenly the vent cover below him gave way. He switched his mind to super speed mode and made a metal beam with a suction cup on the end come out of his PAK and stick to the top of the air vent. Suddenly, he was hanging upside down, staring at someone's back.

Before he could bring himself back up, she turned around.

Gaz. Crap.

Their faces were inches apart. He stared into her wide eyes, noticing she was in a state of shock. If he didn't get back into the vent soon, she would call security and they would find him.

He grinned, gave her a little wave, then pulled himself back up quickly. He grabbed Gir and crawled away as fast as possible without melting the vent. He wasn't too far away, however, when he heard a yell from the other room.

"SOLDIERS! I NEED SOLDIERS TO MEET ME IN THE MAIN HALL IMMEDIATLEY."

Well, that's just great. Zim just hoped he could still go through with his plan.

If not, everything he lived for would be doomed.

**Random Mrs. Bitters (who, by the way, is dead) note: Doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, doom, go home now.**


	7. Escape

Gaz stared into Zim's upside down face, suddenly reminded of a Spiderman movie she had seen while she had been channel surfing. Nowadays, it was considered ancient. She refused to think of that moment.

Zim grinned stupidly, wiggled his three fingers in a little wave, then went up into the cieling. He had apparently escaped through the air vent.

'Ugh, the little creep, was he spying on me?' Gaz thought angrily. Then, she realized, probably not, because if he had, she would have seen him in the mirror. He must've fallen through. Suddenly, she came to her senses and realized that she should probably call someone to catch him.

She pushed an intercom button next to her mirror and yelled, "SOLDIERS! I NEED SOLDIERS TO MEET ME IN THE MAIN HALL IMMEDIATLEY." She slid on her boots as fast as she could and ran out of her room, then realized something and turned back.

She pushed the button again and added, "Wait, make that soldiers levels 3 and up, plus the two new soldiers I promoted from guards today." Her soldiers were ranked 0-5. 0 is beginners, 1 is below average, 2 is average, 3 is above average, 4 is the leaders of levels 0-3, and 5 is the few who are qualified enough to protect their Lord Gaz personally.

She ran to the Main Hall as quickly as possible and was relieved to see that most of the soldiers she had called were already there. She saw her royal messenger nearby and told him to tell the announcer who spoke over the castle intercom to warn all the guards. He nodded and ran away, his short legs surprisingly fast.

"Alright, soldiers, we have an emergency situation," Gaz began, pacing back and forth on a platform in front of them, her hands behind her back. "Our little intruder, who happens to be an old friend of mine, has escaped his cell and is crawling around in the air vents."

"How is that possible? The cells are inescapable!" One of the soldiers burst out. He instantly covered his mouth, surprised at his outburst.

Gaz stopped and leaned down so they would be face to face. She narrowed her eyes and looked at his patch. Rank 3.

"Do you not realize..." she stood up again and yelled at everyone else. "Does anyone realize, that he is at least as powerful as me?"

Everyone stared, shocked.

"Yes," Gaz bent down to look at the Rank 3 soldier again. "He is at least as strong, fast, and powerful as me in every way. He claims to be even stronger than I am. I extremely doubt it, but it's still possible. Is it really any wonder he escaped?"

He shook his head nervously. Gaz stood straight again, her hands on her hips.

"So, it appears that an extremely powerful prisoner has escaped and is prowling around in the air vents. In fact, he even snuck into my room." Everyone gasped again.

"I think the best thing to do is search for this intruder. So, Rank 3 soldiers are to search the left side of the building, Rank 4 on the right, where my room is, and Rank 5, come with me to search the middle."

She watched as some soldiers separated to one side of the castle, and a few others stand in front of the platform, waiting for her next move. She looked at the two Rank 0 soldiers waiting her command.

"You," she pointed to the one on her left. "Go with Rank 3. And you," she pointed at the other. "With Rank 4. You two are the only ones other than me who knows what he looks like, so if he gets a disguise from somewhere, he won't be able to fool you." They bowed and separated, looking back at each other.

"Ugh, I swear, they're like a couple or something," Gaz muttered to herself. "Anyway," she said louder, "Rank 5. You are the best my military has to offer. Several of my Rank 4 are close to being you, but they don't have what it takes. You come from all over the universe to protect me, your Lord." She looked at them each in turn. There were about 10.

"What I'm trying to say is, don't screw this up, or you're all freaking dead. You got that?" They shook their heads, nervous and exited at the same time.

"Okay, this guy is a big threat, so keep an eye out and never let your guard down. Forward, march."

On her word, they turned and marched in front of her. She followed them, giving them orders and explaining what Zim looked like.

Even with all these precautions, she had the feeling that she was in deep shit.


	8. Objective

"Attention guards, the most recent prisoner has escaped. Keep an eye out for someone who doesn't look like they belong. Soldiers are ordered to kill on the spot."

"Are you proud of yourself, Gir?" Zim whispered after hearing the announcement, still crouching somewhere in the vent system. "Now everyone knows I've escaped, and no doubt Gaz told them I'm in the vents."

Gir looked down, and Zim rolled his eyes. "It's not gonna work this time, Gir."

He saw tears dripping down from Gir's face.

"I've lived with that act for 1,000 years, Gir," his voice was beginning to crack a bit. Gir's shoulders began shaking. Zim sighed.

"All right, I forgive you."

"You're not mad anymore?" Gir said quietly.

"No, I'm not mad anymore," Zim said, defeated.

"YAY!"

"Sshh, Gir! And it won't be so easy to gain forgiveness next time, do you hear me?" Gir nodded happily.

"Alright, well, since they know we're in the vents, and hiding in the castle would be suicide, let's change the plan a bit."

Gir stared expectantly.

"Okay, instead of going through with the original plan, we'll do Part A, then skip Part B and go straight to Part C. If Part D is succesful, we may not even have to worry about Part B. If not, we have Plan B."

"I didn't understand anything you just said!" Gir exclaimed. Zim sighed.

"Alright, then just do what I say when I say it, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Good, Gir."

Zim started crawling forward again, then realized he had no clue where he was going. He ordered his PAK to show him the hologram he had downloaded while he was still dodging the guards outside the castle.

A 3D map-like image of the huge castle was projected in front of him, with a little red dot somewhere in the vent system.

"Damn," he whispered, letting the projector retract back into his PAK. "The only possible exit is all the way across the castle. Since we don't know where our objective is, it will probably take a while before we can escape successfully."

"I like tacos," Gir whispered back.

"Of course you do, Gir." Zim was looking down into the openings in the vent. He hoped that the objective was nearby.

"So, I was thinking..."

"Mmhmm." he replied, not really listening.

"That, maybe when the mission is over..."

"Mmhmm."

"Well, maybe we can stop by Earth..."

"Mmhmm."

"You know, for some tacos?"

"Mmhmm."

"'Cause, you know, I really like tacos."

"Mmhmm."

"And, well, I gave you my last one, and you threw it against the wall in the prison cell thingy..."

"Mmhmm."

"And I'm really hungry..."

"Mmhmm."

"And I did a good job giving you the drill..."

"Mmhmm."

"And-"

"Wait, Gir, sshh." Zim said suddenly, over one of the vent openings. Through it, he noticed a supply room. Thinking ahead to his mission, he undrilled the cover and pulled it in before it could crash on the floor.

A worker was facing away from a shelf that had some duct tape on it. Zim thought it would be very useful, so he attatched his suction cup beam to the top of the vent and signaled Gir to be absolutely silent.

Checking to see that the worker was still facing away from him, he quickly lowered himself down and grabbed the duct tape, pulling himself back up just in time. The worker turned around and looked at the shelf, staring at it strangely.

Zim reattatched the vent cover and crawled away quickly and silently. He cringed when he heard a crash and a cry, realizing he had forgotten to screw the nails back in. He crawled more and hoped that knowing he was just there wouldn't help the soldiers find him.

Ah, well.

"So, anyway..." Gir said quietly.

"Hold that thought." Zim turned around to face Gir. He pulled out about a foot of duct tape, ripped it off, and stuck it on Gir's mouth. He placed the little robot on his back and kept crawling, relieved to have some quiet.

He looked down into the next opening and saw a dark room. Suddenly, a door opened to his left and let light flood in. Someone flipped a switch, and he could see about 10 soldiers walk cautiously into the huge ball room, followed by Gaz.

Zim grinned evilly.

The objective had arrived.


	9. Exit

Gaz walked behind her troop of soldiers, using her enhanced eyesight to peer through the vent covers she saw periodically on the cieling. One of her soldiers asked her which direction to head in.

"Well, just keep going forward and-"

She cut herself off, and cocked her head. She could have sworn she heard someone shout 'Yay.'

"Did you hear that?" the soldier shook his head. Gaz shrugged it off, thinking that it was probably just her paranoia.

"Anyway, we'll just keep going forward into that next hallway and check all the rooms. He might be anywhere in the castle by now."

The soldier nodded and told the rest of the group the plans.

They kept walking down the long hallway, glancing into every useless room. Suddenly, a cry came from a small supply room.

"You," Gaz pointed to a nearby guard.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Go talk to the Supply Room Attendant and ask her what happened. If it has anything to do with the vent system, contact me immediatley." The guard bowed and left for the supply room, and Gaz ordered her soldiers to keep walking.

They walked for a while, and Gaz suddenly stopped. The front of her group had reached the door to the Ball Room.

Since Gaz absolutely loathed dancing, she used the Ball Room as a place to store big things. Things to hide in or behind until nightfall.

"The Ball Room," Gaz said urgently. "We need to check in there."

The soldier in the front of the group nodded, then kicked the door open. He flipped on the light, and the rest of the group filed in warily, Gaz in the very back. She stayed by the door, watching as the soldiers checked inside and around several big objects.

Suddenly, she felt something grab her under the arm and she was rising. Before she could shout, whoever had captured her put their hand over her mouth, so all she could make was a muffled murmuring.

They took her into the vents, so she guessed it could only be Zim who had captured her. She struggled, making muffled cries that the soldiers couldn't hear. She blushed furiously as she felt him wrap his legs around her waist to hold her down.

She felt his arms shift behind her and before she knew it, she had a heavy layer of duct tape over her mouth. He held her arms behind her back and taped her wrists together, then lifted her up slightly and put her down onto something she couldn't identify.

The thing holding her up felt like two little hands, and Gaz suddenly had a hunch about what 'Gir says hi,' meant. Of course, Zim's stupid little robot had helped him escape from the dungeon.

Gaz stopped crying for help, seeing that it would do no good. She heard cute little squeaks with each step the robot made, and she saw Zim crawling through the vents in front of them, heading for the other side of the castle. Then, an announcment came over the intercom, and he stopped to listen.

"Attention all," a panicky voice said. "Lord Gaz has dissapeared. We are led to believe that the prisoner who escaped kidnapped her, and that he is still in the vent system. If you see him, do anything you can to stop him and get her back. All people with weapons are ordered to kill on the spot, and Tech Workers are ordered to put the expirimental Mini Kill Robots in the vent system."

Zim cursed quietly, and if her mouth wasn't duct taped so tight, Gaz would have smirked.

'It's over, Zim. You lose.' she thought.

"Well, Gir," Zim whispered. "It looks like we aren't going to make it to the exit. Guess we're gonna have to make our own, huh?"

The little robot under her nodded, and Gaz internally frowned.

'What does he mean by that?'

He crawled a little quicker, turning at the next intersection and meeting a dead end. He sighed, and placed his hand on the wall. Gaz looked at him strangely, then suddenly realized what he was doing.

Green light emerged from the space between his gloved hand and the wall, and it started melting. Gaz stared. She wasn't really impressed, since she could do that too. The only thing she wondered is why his glove wasn't melting along with the wall.

Zim caught her gaze. "Coustom-made gloves," he whispered. He smiled faintly, seeming to be lost in his thoughts for a moment. Once the hole in the wall was big enough for them to fit through, he gestured for Gir to stay put for a moment.

He stuck his head out the hole and looked down, then slid out of the vent. "Okay, Gir," he said quietly from outside. "Throw her down." Gaz's eyes widened. 'Throw me down? Is he nuts? We're on the third floor! If he doesn't catch me, I swear-'

She didn't get to finish her thought, because Gir threw her out the hole in the wall. She felt strong hands catch her, and looked up to see Zim looking at the castle. Quite a ways up, you could just barely see the hole in the moonlight.

"Gir," he said quietly. "Jump down. Don't worry, I'll catch you." Gir jumped and landed gently on gaz's stomach. She almost laughed at the sight of the duct tape on his mouth. She remembered a long time ago, when Gir wouldn't usually shut up about the most random things.

Zim started running to somewhere behind the castle, and Gaz was surprised to see that he was about as fast as her.

Gaz wanted to ask where they were going, but because of the duct tape, she couldn't. She stared at Gir, who seemed to be struggling with something. He lifted his little arms and peeled off the duct tape. He turned back to Gaz and grinned as wide as possible.

The stupid, cute little robot. She actually almost missed it.

Almost.


	10. Running

After hearing the announcment over the intercom, Zim cursed under his breath. They had no time to make it to the other side of the building. He just hoped there was a dead end nearby.

"Well, Gir," he whispered to his little robot servant. "It looks like we aren't going to make it to the exit. Guess we're gonna have to make our own, huh?"

Gir nodded. It was kind of a funny sight, a cute little robot with duct tape over his mouth carrying a full grown woman in an air vent. Of course, Zim had no time to think about that. He crawled through the vents a little faster than before, relieved when he saw an intersection with a dead end.

He sighed and placed his hand on the wall at the end. He needed to focus his energy just right so that it wouldn't melt too much at one time. Green light emerged from the space between his hand and the wall, and a hole began to form.

He noticed Gaz was staring at his glove, probably wondering why it wasn't melting with the wall. He turned his head slightly towards her. "Coustom-made gloves," he whispered. He felt himself smile faintly as he remembered where he got the gloves.

Long ago, after a series of events, he had befriended Gaz's brother, Dib, his once great enemy. Dib was even smarter as a full grown adult than as a kid, and had become the next generation famous Dr. Membrane. He had helped Zim train and learn to control his power, and after studying the energy Zim emitted from his hand, he made him those amazing gloves wich helped focus the energy.

Zim noticed that the hole had become big enough to escape from, and he stuck his head out to see how far down the ground was. They seemed to be three stories up. No problem.

He slid out of the vent and turned in mid-air, landing on his feet. He looked up and saw the hole. For anyone without enhanced eyesight like him, it would take quite a bit of staring to notice the difference, since it was night time, and on Irk the moon didn't give much light.

"Okay, Gir," he said quietly, hoping he could hear him. "Throw her down."

A moment later, he saw Gaz's figure fly out from the side of the castle, wich was another thing that kind of looked funny. He caught her easily and looked back up at the castle.

"Gir, jump down. Don't worry, I'll catch you." He watched as a much smaller figure fell down and landed on Gaz's stomach. He started running towards the back of the castle, to where he parked his ship. He glanced down at Gir and saw him grinning at Gaz.

Zim smiled. Gaz always _was_ his favorite human. Gir's, that is. He didn't want to think too far into that at the moment.

He looked back up again to be sure he didn't crash into anything. He sighed happily. He loved to run now that he had super speed. He loved feeling the wind in his now-natural hair, loved watching things flash by him so quickly he barely saw them. Of course, that part was only if he didn't switch his thinking to fast mode, wich made it feel like he was just out on a nice evening jog.

He eventually reached his ship, the one he used to get from Earth to Irk. His old one was too small now, since he was much taller, so with help from Dib he took it apart and used the parts to make a bigger one. It was purple on the outside and had white seats on the inside, one driver's seat and a bench-like seat in the back. Other than being bigger, it pretty much looked the same.

He bent down and leveled his eyes with a retinal scanner. After a moment, the glass dome-like top bent up and he gently layed Gaz down in the back. He ripped off the duct tape as painlessly as he could and got in the driver's seat of the ship, letting Gir stay in the back with her.

Now, all he had to do was get to the Safe Zone, and he could finish his plan.

Wether it would be succesful or not, he didn't know. Only time would tell.

**Note: Sorry this chapter was a bit short. If you couldn't tell, I switch POVs between Gaz and Zim, and I felt it was time for Zim's on the way to the ship and Gaz's inside it.**

**Also, I want to ask a question. 1,000 years is a long time, and a lot of things happened between then and now, so I want to do a few flashback kind of things every couple of chapters. You know, how Zim and Dib bacame friends, how Gaz took over everything but the Milky Way, how Zim trained. Do you think the next chapter would be a good time, or should I maybe wait a bit?**


	11. Flashback 1

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

The night Zim was sprayed witht the mystic Poop Cola, he ran home. He had unknowingly switched his mind to Super Speed mode, and he thought he was running a normal speed. He didn't really notice that nobody noticed him, or that they seemed a bit shorter and were walking a lot faster than humanly possible as he ran through the streets in town.

As he reached his house, he stopped running, and the world seemed to be going too fast.

"Hmm..." he said to himself. "I...don't remember my house being this close to that forest." In fact, at the moment he couldn't remember much about what had happened that night. He turned the knob and hit his head on the top of the door.

"AGH! Stupid Earth door," he muttered as he ducked in. Immediatley, he heard distant squeaks, wich could only mean Gir came to greet him. He watched as his little robot servant ran in, then stopped in his tracks, gaping up at him.

"What?" Zim said, irritated.

"Master, you got TAAAALLLL!"

"What do you mean?"

Gir didn't have time to answer him. Suddenly, something burst through the door. Zim spun around in surprise, then noticed it was only Dib. Of course, he was a threat, but he wasn't really worried at the moment since he didn't have the element of surprise. That was pretty much necessary to foil one of Zim's plans.

"ZIM!" Dib yelled, clearly pissed.

"What now, Earth worm-baby?" Zim snarled.

"Woah," Dib stared at him. "What happened to you?"

"WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT ZIM? ZIM IS THE SAME AS BEFORE!" He was starting to get really agitated.

"Well, first of all, you're really tall! And, also, your voice...is deeper, I think."

"YOU LIE! LIIIEEEEE!"

"And your hair," Dib ignored his usual outburst. "It's like, rooted into your head."

"Gir," Zim demanded.

"Yes Sir." Gir momentarily turned red.

"Get Zim a mirror."

"Yes Sir." Gir walked away quickly, then came back with a full-body mirror. He leaned it against the wall before returning to his usual blue. Then, he left to go somewhere down the hall. Zim stared at his new self, wondering what really _had_ happened.

Suddenly, the memories of that night flodded back to him. Chasing the Earthling who had stolen one of his ships, going into the dark cave, being sprayed by that little beast, breaking out of the rubble that was left of the mountain.

"Gaz," he whispered.

Dib, remembering why he had come in the first place, got angry again.

"She's exactly why I'm here!"

"What are you talking about?"

"She's dissapeared, and I know you have something to do with it!"

Zim thought. An event of about a year ago popped into his mind, when people claiming to be from the future came in to stop him from ruling the universe, when it had turned out to be the Gaz-beast they needed to stop. Zim was just there to be the wife of the house or something, whatever _that_ meant.

"Eh," he shrugged. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. I realy don't know. Maybe it's for the better."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?"

"ZIM DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THIS QUESTION!"

"UGH!" Dib cried in exhasperation. "THIS WAS JUST A HUGE WASTE OF TIME!"

He turned and walked to the doorway, then paused and said over his shoulder.

"I'll be back for you later, alien-scum, as soon as I find my little sister."

He walked out and slammed the door behind him, and Zim shrugged. He turned back to the mirror to examine himself more, only to see Gir dancing with a pig.

"Uhh..." Zim edged around them and left down the hall, watching strangely.

He didn't know what had really happened to him, but he felt better. Stronger. Faster.

More powerful.

**Note: There ya go, a flashback! Back to before Zim actually matured a bit, but don't worry, I'll be sure to slip in a few old habits every now and again in the real story.**


	12. Drive

Gaz sat, stunned. Why had he taken off the duct tape so carefully? In fact, why had he taken it off at all? What was his motive?

She looked at Gir, who was offering her a rubber piggy. She stared at him coldly, but he didn't give up. Ignoring him, she looked at Zim in the driver's seat. He had started up the ship and was now driving somewhere. He seemed like he knew where he was going.

"Hey, Zim," she said, trying to get his attention.

"Yes?" he glanced over his shoulder for a second and agnowleged her, then turned back to look at where he was going.

"What now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you kidnapped me, and now you're taking me somewhere. What's the deal?"

"Hmm..." he thought for a moment. Gaz was dumbfounded. He seriously had to _think_ about it?

"Well," he continued. "I _did_ come here to destroy your empire, but I believe I've lost that chance."

"Uh, yeah."

"We have some unfinished business to attend to, then I'll probably return to Earth to prepare for my second try."

"Second try? So, even after failing _and_ letting me know you're still alive, you're still going to come back? You know, I _will_ step up the security and kill you as soon as possible next time."

"Yes, Zim knows. However, have you ever known me to give up before?"

"No, I guess not."

They sat in silence for a while. Gir still hadn't given up and was now nudging Gaz in the side with the pig. She pushed him away a few times, but he kept coming back, so she gave up.

"So," she started again. "What do you mean by 'unfinished business?'"

"I'll explain when we get there."

"Get _where?_"

"You'll see."

Gaz was beginning to get agitated. She noticed that he wasn't like he was the last time she had seen him on Earth.

"You've changed a lot, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so. 1,000 years is plenty of time to change, don't you think?"

She didn't reply. Gir was still nudging her with his stupid rubber pig.

"Will you quit it?" she burst out suddenly. Gir paused and looked at her, then extended the pig towards her.

"Ugh, Zim, tell your freaking robot to stop sticking his stupid pig in my face."

"I'm afraid that will do no good," he said, trying not to laugh. "He's probably just as persistant as I, maybe even more."

Gaz sighed. "Fine, I'll take your stupid pig." Gir grinned as she hesitantly took the pig from his grasp and sat it in her lap. Gir took another pig from his head and started dancing with it.

After a moment, he looked at Gaz expectantly.

"No way," she said coldly.

He started screaming insanely. Gaz just punched him in the side of the head, and he fell asleep, cuddling with his piggy.

"Well, _he_ certainly hasn't changed."

"No," Zim replied. "I suppose not. You never really get used to it, either."

They rode in silence for a while longer. Gaz noticed Zim was taking in her empire. Irk hadn't really changed too much, except there was probably more buildings, and instead of the Irken symbol, there were skull symbols exactly like the one on her pendant.

It was the same pendant she had as a child on Earth. Neither of their fashion senses really changed. Their clothes had grown with them, and never got dirty or worn. Why fix something that isn't broken?

The ship started slowing down as it neared some trees.

'Trees?' Gaz thought. 'That's wierd. This planet barely has any nature.'

She examined the trees with interest. They weren't exactly like Earth trees. They had pitch black leaves and dark red trunks. The leaves were shaped like big ovals and were each about the size of her fist. The branches of the trees were similar to those of Earth branches, but each tree had several more than the average Earth tree.

Zim came to a full stop at the edge of a huge clearing in the middle of the forest and pressed a button on the ship's dashboard.

"We're here," he said as he climbed out and examined the only nature his home planet had to offer. "Welcome to the Safe Zone."


	13. Fair Fight

Zim leaned against his ship and studied the nature around him. Here on Irk, the mighty planet full of a race that focuses only on military and technology, there wasn't much nature. Except, of course, in this spot.

"Where are we?" Gaz asked from behind him as she warily climbed out of the ship.

"This is what I like to call 'The Safe Zone.' It's the only place on Irk with any nature whatsoever. You see, this spot has a natural magnetic field surrounding it, causing any technological device to stop working. So, nobody goes here."

"How did we get here in a ship, then?"

He smiled faintly as he thought of another memory.

"Your brother, Dib-human." he said, looking off into the distance, not really seeing what was in front of him. He thought of the times he and his ex-enemy worked together to build something amazing.

"He...he helped me build this." He felt Gaz's eyes on the back of his neck. She probably thought he was going to try to get at her again about how she wasn't there when he died.

"This ship has an emergency setting," he continued. "It's made specifically for this kind of situation. When it passes through a magnetic field such as this, it uses the field against it to push it along the ground. Also, the glass generates a magnetic field of its own, counteracting the natural field and allowing anyone on the inside to use electricity."

He realized Gaz was closer now, and turned to see her still glaring at him.

"Okay, Pink-Eye, enough nerd talk. Why are we here?"

"Well, I chose this area for a few different reasons."

"Which are?"

"First of all, I figured you may have a communicator or a tracking device somewhere on you, so now thet you're here, nobody will know where to look."

Gaz looked like she remembered something, then went back to glaring.

"The communicator in my crown," she growled. "Of course, when _you_ snuck into my room I was too freaked out to put it back on when I left. So I guess this is pointless."

"Not exactly," he started pressing buttons on his PAK, checking to see if anything worked. No, nothing was coming out.

"What?" Gaz said warily.

"Well, I thought electronical devices would make the fight unfair." he said unconsiously.

Gaz's eyes widened. He glanced in her direction as he was still testing his PAK.

"What? Did you not expect a fight?"

"Well, I thought you were probably going to try to destroy my empire, and I knew I was going to fight _back,_ but I guess I didn't really expect a _fair_ fight."

He chuckled. "Did I not tell you I have changed?"

He turned towards the ship and looked inside.

"Gir? You okay?"

The little robot seemed weak, but he grinned widley. "IT HURTS!" he said happily.

"Don't worry, Gir, Zim will make the pain go away." he internally laughed at himself. He still sometimes talked in third person for no apparent reason. 'Old habits die hard, I guess.' he thought.

Zim pressed a button on the dashboard and a small orb popped out of the side of the ship. He opened it and held it out to Gir. Gir stared at it, then looked at his master, clearly confused.

"Just trust me, okay Gir?"

Gir nodded and hopped into the orb. Zim closed it and pressed a button on the outside. A thin layer of light surrounded it and Zim placed it on the ground. Gir rolled around happily.

"I'M LIKE THE BOY IN THE BUBBLE!"

"Another magnetic field?"

Zim nodded. "So, you ready?"

"For what?" Gaz was staring strangely at Gir, seeming to wonder where all that energy came from in the first place.

"The fight."

Gaz's head snapped up and she glared daggers at him.

"No, I am _so_ not fighting with you right now."

Zim was surprised. "What do you mean? Are you afraid, little Gaz?"

"No, I'd kick your ass so hard you'd soar all the way to planet Dirt, which I now rule, by the way."

"Then what is the problem?"

"The problem is, I don't wanna be lost in some forest with a creep who is supposed to be DEAD! I'm outta here."

She started walking away, but before she could get too far, Zim stuck out his arm and a wall of green energy appeared in front of her. She ran into it, and before she could react, Zim ran up to her and pushed her against the nearest wide-trunked tree.

Their faces were maybe an inch apart, and he stared into her furious eyes.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Gaz. This conflict has been bothering me for more than 1,000 years and all I ask is that we get it over with."

"What if I win?" she asked, her voice shaking with rage.

"Then I will leave willingly. Simple as that."

Only when he noticed her cheeks turning red did he realize that his whole body was pressed up against hers. His own face turned a darker shade of green as he backed away quickly.

"Fine," she said reluctantly. "As long as you leave me alone. If you come back, you die immediatley."

He nodded and walked to the other side of the clearing. He readied himself for battle, getting into a stance that would make it hard to knock him down. Gaz just stood there with her arms crossed, clearly furious with him for stopping her like that.

This definatley wasn't going to be an easy fight to win for either of them.

**Note: Yay! I like this chapter. One conflict though, I'm not sure who I want to win! On one hand, Gaz **_**never**_** loses. On the other, Zim has trained for 1,000 years. Sure, Gaz has expirience, but he trained so hard with Dib! Also, he's being underestimated. I like it when underestimated people come out on top! I guess I'll think about it, but some of your opinions may help! Review and tell me who should win and why, it'll help a lot!**


	14. Beginning the Battle

"What if I win?"

"Then I will leave willingly. Simple as that."

Gaz glared at Zim furiously, angry that he dared to touch her like that. She felt her cheeks turn from pink to red during the pause in the conversation.

A look of realization came upon his face and he backed away quickly.

'It's about time that little idiot noticed,' she thought to herself.

"Fine," she said out loud, although reluctant to agree. "As long as you leave me alone. If you come back, you die immediately."

Zim nodded and walked to the other side of the clearing. He stood in some kind of battle stance, and Gaz just stood with her arms crossed, still angry about how close he had gotten.

'This is gonna be easy,' she thought as she stared at him in his stance. Suddenly, she jumped into action, uncrossing her arms and running towards him. She kicked at him, but Zim, being about as fast as she was, pushed her foot away with one hand.

She balanced herself before she could fall and put her hands together. She drew them apart, forming a glowing ball of dark energy, then pushed it towards him. He dodged it and shot back with a thin ray of his own green energy.

Gaz just barely dodged it, but noticed a small bit of her hair was singed. It grew back before their eyes and Gaz ran towards Zim, punching him in the face. It was a solid hit, and his head snapped to the side. He immediately recovered and threw a punch of his own, which she dodged.

He grabbed her arm and threw her to the side. Gravity dragged her through the grass, making a long ditch in the ground and kicking up a cloud of dirt. She jumped out from behind the cloud, making a trail of dust behind her. She rose about 20 feet in the air and came at Zim with a flying kick.

He grabbed her ankle and spun her around, then let go. This time, she landed on her feet and slid about a yard back,then ran at him again. She punched at him several times in a row, but he moved his head and she narrowly missed each time.

She stopped for a second and her fist started glowing with dark energy. This time she punched him and landed a solid hit, and he flew backwards and hit a tree. He straightened himself up, and Gaz noticed there was a large dent in the tree where his back had hit.

He held out his hand like he was holding something, then a small ball of green light formed. He thrust his hand forward repeatedly, throwing several balls of energy in Gaz's direction at once.

She ducked and they missed, then stood back up and ran at him again. He ran at her at the same time, and they met in the middle. Their hands met above their heads and they pushed against each other, both trying to push the other over.

Their eyes met and they glared at each other. "You can not win, little, Gaz, I will best you yet." Zim proclaimed confidently.

"Psh, yeah right. Geez, now I know why you're called 'Irken,'"

He stared at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

'This guy is dumber than I thought,' she thought to herself.

"On Earth we call annoying people irksome."

"I am not this 'Irksome' of which you speak, I am ZIM!"

Gaz raised an eyebrow and Zim looked at her sheepishly.

"Okay, maybe I haven't changed THAT much."

"Yeah, sure," Gaz pushed him while he was distracted and he fell to the ground. She held her foot on his stomach, or whatever was in that area for his species, and looked at him.

"You haven't won yet, little Gaz-beast," Zim stuck out his hand and hit her with a huge beam of green light. She fell, and now _she _was the one laying on her back. She got up before he could trap her and they both stood in an instinctive battle stance.

Gaz grinned despite herself. It wasn't going to be as easy and fast as she thought it was.

But, damn, was it gonna be fun!

**Annoying author's note, ha-ha on you: Hey hey hey! I was thinking of either putting the next chapter in Gir's point of view (then going back to Zim's to keep the pattern going) or doing another flashback. Waddaya think? Also, I decided who's gonna win! Sorry this one was short.**


	15. Flashback 2

**Before note: Well, first off, since nobody bothered to take like 30 seconds to tell me what they would prefer, I'm gonna do whatever the hell I wanna do! Sorry, I'm not really in a good mood. First day back at school, schedual's all messed up, which brings me to another thing. I'm not going to be updating as much because of school, but I'll try. I promise. Also, I might start a whole new IZ story. Maybe.**

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times. (This will be my usual flashback intro.)**

Gaz stared at the remains of what used to be a huge mountain. She looked at her hand, still faintly glowing with dark energy.

'If I could do that to a mountain with a simple flick of the wrist,' she thought to herself. 'Who knows what I could do?' Of course, she did. At that moment, she was already planning everything out. But first, she would need to get a few things.

She turned and ran as fast as she could through the forest, noticing that everything blurred as she ran. She forced her mind to focus, then after a moment everything cleared. When she reached the edge of the forest, she stopped.

"First," she said to herself. "I need to get a few things from home..." She started running again and reached her home much sooner than she usually did. She zoomed past Dib, who was walking from the kitchen with a can of pop in his hand. He seemed incredibly short and slow, and apparently didn't even notice his not-so-little sister run in front of him.

Gaz stopped in her room and looked around. She grabbed the strap of her black backpack and stuffed a few of her plush animals into it, the ones she had programmed to feed on human flesh at her command. Next, she stuffed a few of the pictures she had drawn of pigs.

Frowning, she remembered that stupid Zim had taken her Game Slave 2. Ignoring the inexplicable pain in the pit of her stomach, she glanced at her closet, then saw that none of her dresses would fit anymore.

Then she looked down at her own dress. It had apparently grown with her, and even after the chase and running through the forest, it was like brand new. She shrugged and ran out of her room, heading towards the garage.

She saw that Dib still had the ship that the other idiot alien, Tak, had left behind. She hopped into it and looked at the dashboard. Although she had no clue what any of the Irken symbols meant, she had seen Dib try, and fail, to start it up plenty of times.

She touched a few places on the screen with her long, slender fingers, and a hologram popped up. She touched another area and the ship made a strange noise. Gaz guessed that it meant the ship was starting up.

She gently touched her finger to the middle of the screen, then dragged one of the digital symbols to another area. The glass dome above her head slid shut, and she had to duck to fit. She took hold of the steering wheel and pushed it forward.

It dragged through the grass of the front yard for a second, then lifted up into the air. Gaz hovered above the house and pressed a button to her right. A holographic map of the universe came up, then zoomed in on Earth.

Gaz smirked. She was ready to start her plan, and although it would take approximatley 1,000 years, she had no worries. She had all the time in the world.

She sped straight into the sky, leaving behind everything she had ever known without a second thought.


	16. Feminine

Zim stared at Gaz strangely as she grinned. She thought this was going to be _fun_! 'Screw her,' he thought and snarled.

"Ready to start again?" She taunted.

"I am ready to _win,_ Gaz-beast."

"Wait a minute." she seemed to realize something.

"What?"

"How do we determine who wins, anyway?"

Zim straightened and pondered for a moment. "Huh. I do not know." They stood there and thought for a minute. Suddenly, Zim perked up and snapped his slender fingers.

"I think I have a good condition."

"And what would that be?"

Zim put his hands on his hips and looked into the distance, making sure he had all the details in place.

"Well, how about this. The first one to-" he cut himself off when he noticed Gaz smirking at him.

"What?"

"You look so gay like that!"

"Gay? I...look happy?"

"No, you look gay! You know...feminine?" Zim's face turned a darker shade of green as he glared at Gaz. He started muttering in his native language. He had heard that Gaz didn't bothered with learning any alien languages and just made a law that everyone must speak English.

He noticed Gaz was looking at him irritably, probably not happy that she didn't know what he was saying. He knew, though. His words roughly translated to:

"Ignorant little distracted filth. How dare she call me feminine in the middle of a fight? Is that what gay means, feminine?"

He decided to ask her. He repeated the last part, in English this time.

"Well, kind of..."

"So, most Earth females are gay?"

"No- wait, most?"

"Well, _you_ certainly aren't feminine."

She seemed to ponder this. "Yeah, sure whatever. Gay actually means, you know... a guy doesn't like girls...he likes guys."

Zim was confused. A long time ago, in his Skool, most males were friends with other males.

"So... most Earth _males_ are gay?"

Gaz sighed. "No, you idiot! Why are we even talking about this?"

Zim shrugged.

"Look," she held her forehead in her hand in aggravation. "Gay means homosexual. If a man is gay, he dates other men. Do you get it?"

"Ooohhh..." stared of to the distance, now understanding several shows Gir used to watch.

"Well," Gaz said impatiently. "Now that we've wasted like three minutes on this, what were your conditions?"

"Oh, right." He crossed his arms. "How about, the first one to become unconscious, for even a moment, is the loser?"

"Hmm," she got back into her battle stance. "Well, it _does_ sound pretty fun to knock you out..."

Zim's eyes narrowed and he also stood in his stance.

"Ready to lose, human?"

She chuckled. "I haven't been human for 1,000 years."

"Are you sure it was not for much longer?"

"Touche."

They grinned evilly at each other for a moment, then suddenly jumped into action.

Here's where the fight _really_ begins.

**Note: Since nobody bothers to review, I'll be writing this more for me than for you. So, come on! Please? I'll be taking any suggestions and most likely using them! Like I did when somebody (you know who you are) told me about all my spelling errors and from now on I check all the documents on the upload manager ALL THE TIME! Anyway, JSYK, (just so you know) at the 'Screw her,' part in the beginning, I would have put in a little wisecrack, something like, 'Like anyone would want to,' but I wanted to make it so he still doesn't understand a lot of Earth slang. Yes, even after being on Earth for over 1,000 years, for those who asked. Also, you must know I have no problems with gay people. I just needed a filler. I swear, though, I'm one of those people that think it's stupid that most people think it's wrong to be gay. See ya on the flip side, soul brothers and sisters! Sorry, hippy moment or something. (Oh, and I apologize for the long note. And I realize the apology makes it longer.)**


	17. Laughing

**Shout out to anonymous reviewers: Thanks for finally joining Waffles of Doom and not letting him/her be the only regular reviewer! Thanks, Waffles! To Tazer42, I already have that planned out! You'll just have to wait and see! XD To the signed in reviewers, I already replied to you, so there ya go! Anyway, now to the story. Also, you know how the POV is 3rd person, but still kinda switches between focusing on Zim and Gaz? Well, today we have a guest star! Who is it? The first word of the actual story should tell you. **

Gir watched his master and Gaz talk about being gay. For the few seconds he could actually manage to focus on something, he thought it was pretty funny. After a moment, he forgot what was so funny and started rolling around in his little bubble. It was really fun!

He liked being back on his home planet, though he really missed Earth. They had so many fun things, like tacos, and pigs, and burritos, and TV, and tacos, and doom, and tacos, and his little dog suit, and waffles, and tacos, and taquitos, and...stuff.

"WOOO! WOOO!" he screamed repeatedly as he found out how to make himself bounce around in his little ball, but his master didn't hear him, he was too busy being angry at Gazzy. He was always either angry or laughing evilly.

Actually, he had been angry at Gazzy for 1,000 years! Gir remembered the countless times Zim had told him he was going out for a bit. When Gir had asked him where he had been going, his eyes got all angry and he said that he had been training to defeat 'The Gaz-beast.'

Gir stopped bouncing and looked at them, grinning at each other. He grinned too, wondering why they were so happy.

Then, they suddenly jumped at each other. They were going so fast, Gir couldn't even see them half the time. He started giggling. Then his giggles turned into gentle laughter. That laughter got louder and louder until he was laughing so hard his head was coming loose.

By the time it fell off, his master and Gazzy both became distracted. Zim sighed. "Not again," he muttered. Gir kept laughing as he remembered laughing his head off during the six-month journey from Earth to Irk, making Zim stop on the nearest planet to get him fixed. He laughed harder.

"Gir, what is so funny?" his master asked, clearly annoyed. Gir saw his body feeling around the bubble for him, then once his head was back in his own hands, he turned to look at Zim.

"I dunno," he said, trying hard to stop laughing.

"Oh, come _on,_" Gaz said, annoyed. "How many freaking interruptions will there be? It's starting to get really annoying."

"Just be patient, Earth-stink, I'm as annoyed as you are." Zim said, leaning over the side of the ship at the edge of the clearing. There were a few clinking sounds, then Zim appeared with a few Irken tools.

He walked up to Gir, who had calmed down, and held him, bubble and all, in front of his face to examine the damage. He sighed.

"Alright Gir, I am going to have to open the bubble to fix you, which means you'll automatically shut down because of the magnetic field."

Gir looked up at him. He didn't like shutting down very much. It was a lot different from just sleeping. It was like dying, then being reborn with his old memories in place. It was scary, because since he was artificial, once he shut down, he was just _nothing_.

He whimpered, thinking about what would happen in a moment.

"Don't worry, Gir, you'll be alright." Zim said, crouching down. "Are you ready?"

Gir hesitated, then held up a finger as a signal to wait a minute. The top of his head slid open, and he reached in and took hold of a rubber pig.

He held it tightly, then nodded, staring sadly into Zim's eyes. He could tell that his master was trying to hide his sympathy.

Zim nodded, pressed a button on the outside of the bubble, and Gir's world went dark.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

When he came to, everything was different, and everyone seemed to be in a panic. Despite the fear he felt, he grinned.

He knew his master would never let him down.

**Another note: Sorry about the kind of short chapter. It went a litte different than I though it would, but I like it! Hope you do, too!**


	18. First Time

Time slowed down. Gaz threw punches at Zim, Zim threw punches at Gaz, and they both dodged each others' punches. It was hard to guess what would happen next, yet it was also so predictable.

At one point, Gaz landed a hit and smirked. Zim only took a moment to recover and threw a small ball of green light right at her. Gaz instinctively held out a hand and realized, that if she used her own energy, she could use his against him. She added a little more power to it and threw it back.

Zim ducked just in time, and turned around to see a tree behind him explode. He looked back at her, eyes wide with surprise and wonder. Gaz used this moment to throw another punch, but he dodged it, and they went back to where they started. Soon, though, something distracted them both.

They paused, looking towards the edge of the clearing. Gir was laughing like crazy in his little bubble, and his head had fallen off. Zim sighed.

"Not again," he muttered.

Gaz looked at him, irritated. Was he seriously going to stop in the middle of a fight to fix his stupid little robot servant, who was probably going to break himself in the next five minutes, anyway?

"Gir," he yelled. "What is so funny?"

Gir's body stood up and lifted his still laughing head.

"I dunno," he said, giggling with every word.

Gaz had enough.

"Oh, come _on!_ How many freaking interruptions will there be? It's starting to get really annoying."

"Just be patient, Earth-stink," Zim said. Gaz scowled. "I'm as annoyed as you are."

He leaned over the edge of the ship. There were a few clinking noises, then he stood back up, strange Irken tools in-hand.

Gaz watched him walk up to Gir, who had finally stopped his annoying laughter, and held the bubble in front of his face. He sighed.

"Alright Gir, I am going to have to open the bubble to fix you, which means you'll automatically shut down because of the magnetic field."

Gir looked up at him and whimpered. Gaz didn't know why he looked so scared, but she kind of felt sorry for him.

"Don't worry, Gir," Zim said. crouching down. "Are you ready?"

Gir held up a finger, as if to say "Wait," The top of his head slid open, and he reached in and pulled out a rubber pig. Gaz looked away.

She heard a little _click,_ and knew the little robot had probably just technically died. She refused to show any emotion and convinced herself she didn't care. She glanced back at Zim.

His back was to her, and he was working with his tools, knowing exactly what to do. She couldn't see exactly what he was doing from this angle, and she was kind of relieved.

A few minutes later, Gaz was _really_ bored. She held up a finger mischievously and zapped Zim in the back of the head. His hair was singed, and he turned around angrily as it repaired itself before their eyes.

"What the hell was that for?"

"I'm bored."

"So? It will only be another minute-"

"But I really wanna just kick your ass and go home already," she cut him off. He rolled his eyes and stood up. He seemed like he was about to put his hands on his hips again, but thought better of it and let them hang limply at his sides. Gaz snickered. Zim scowled.

Zim opened his mouth as if to say something, but Gaz just ran at him and punched him in the gut. He hadn't been ready, and he had the air knocked out of him. His face grew furious, and he punched Gaz in the face.

She grinned evilly, wiping her arm across her mouth, then lunged at him. She thrust her arm forward in an attempt to punch him, but he ducked. He grabbed the bottom of her arm and threw her to the edge of the clearing.

She spun in the air and landed, knees bent, facing him.

"Still bored?" Zim asked, not out of breath in the least.

"Eh, a little."

"Let me fix that." he ran forward and jumped. Gaz ducked just in time, but Zim turned to face her about 50 feet in the air, put his hands together, and shot his energy at her again. She dodged it and shot back, and caught him in the chest.

He got pushed back a bit, and when he landed he had a huge hole in the middle of his shirt. He grinned up at her like a maniac, crouching on the grass, his teeth seeming sharpened, as the material slowly grew back.

Gaz stared at him strangely. The wild look in his eyes was...well, almost _frightening_.

Then, she got suddenly angry. She didn't know why, all she knew was that she _was,_ and that this anger was giving her more power. Zim slowly stood up, still smiling wildly. Before he could do anything, Gaz put every bit of power she had into one shot, and a beam of black energy at least twice as thick as her shot forward.

Zim reacted quickly, and a beam of about the same size shot back.

There they were, two forces so powerful they could probably destroy a small planet with one shot, fighting against each other.

And only one could win.

Gaz put more energy in to it, knowing it was potentially dangerous, but Zim just made his more powerful. The point in the middle where the light made contact was explosive, shards of black and green flying everywhere.

Soon, the green energy started gradually pushing closer and closer to Gaz. She panicked, and tried to make her own stronger, but she knew she couldn't, not without killing herself.

In a moment, she realized that she wasn't going to win. But, but she was GAZ! Gaz NEVER lost!

An echo of the voice of her long-lost brother, from over 1,000 years ago, sounded through her head. Something Dib had once told her, before Zim had ever come into their lives, ran through her mind.

_There's a first time for everything, Gaz._

_A first time for everything..._

There was a flash of green, a moment of pure pain, and everything, absolutely everything, was gone.

The invincible Gaz Membrane had, for the first time in her life, lost.

_A first time for everything..._

**Note: Do you have chills? Did I just ruin the moment? Too bad! I need to say something. Of couse, most of you wanted Zim to win. After I thought about it for a second, I decided I did too! I just thought it might be weird for the EGF(S), as I call them, the Extreme Gaz Fans (or Stalkers,) since Gaz never loses. I'm one of those people.**

**But, then again, Zim **_**did**_** spend 1,000 years training! With Dib, no less. Also other awesome people, but we'll get to that.**

**To Tazer42, since I can't reply by PM (some kind of evil plan to get noticed, perhaps?) yes, Gir **_**is**_** kind of hard to write for. Thanks for the compliment, even though I don't think I did all **_**that**_** well. He's way awesomer than anyone but Johnen Vasquez could make him. Also, I just want to point out, I find the expression 'speedy fingers' extremely amusing! (Wait, amusing? Why so formal? WHO AM I AND WHAT HAVE I DONE WITH ME? Wait...)**

**Anyway, GODSPEED FELLOW PIRATE-VAMPIRE-NINJA-BUNNIES! Wait, is that only me?**

**Yeah, I just made that up. Sounds like the awesomest thing in the world, right? THOUGHT SO! Wow, I really make these things long. TALKATIVE! Okay, I'll shut up now. Or now. Or now. Or-**

**Random audience dude(who annoys me immensly): GO AWAY ALREADY!**

**DON'T GET YOUR KNICKERS IN A KNOT, GRANDMA, I'M LEAVIN'!**

***steals his waffles and runs***


	19. The Real Beginning

**Note: So I don't ruin the moment this time, the note is before the story. Yay, this is the most popular story of mine so far! Some people *cough, cough, Dark Skitty Power, cough cough* think it's the best IZ fanfic they've read! (I really need to get that cough checked, don't I?) Also, another reply to the anonymous Tazer42, yeah, I was just kiddin' 'bout the 'evil plan' thing. Also, thanks, I try my best. Yes, the laws of physics have definitely been broken, Gaz has lost a battle, with the, ahem, 'AMAZING' Invader Zim. So weird. If it wasn't for the 1,000 years of training and maturing, I would have puked if he won.**

**Quick recap, for those who may not be the sharpest tool in the shed(like me,) or are just reading too many IZ fanfics to keep track of (also like me,) Gaz is unconscious and Zim has gone momentarily insane.(Always fun.) Also, when Gir wakes up, there is panic. (Yay for future telling-ish stuff!) Have fun!**

Zim was flying through the air, when suddenly excruciating pain spread from his chest to the rest of his body. Something inside him snapped, and he felt something come over him, something wild and powerful.

He had experienced that feeling only once, a long time ago, when he was still in training. He struggled to not be overcome by it this time, because last time, he had managed to blow up a whole forest.

After just a moment of struggle, he knew he couldn't fight it anymore. He let it take over, and before he knew it, there was a green explosion, and Gaz was lying unconscious on the ground a few yards in front of him.

He had won.

He grinned triumphantly. After so long, so many years of training, of searching, of running, and seeing so much death, he had accomplished his greatest goal.

He had defeated Gaz Membrane, Over Lord of most of the universe, in battle.

Suddenly, he heard something. He frowned and cocked his head, listening to the silence.

It seemed like nothing was going to happen, when suddenly about a dozen hovercrafts were just over the magnetic field. Zim's eyes opened wide in surprise.

How could they have _possibly_ found him?

"Give up! Come quietly and your death will be quick and painless!" a voice echoed around the clearing.

Panicking, Zim ran as fast as possible, grabbed the bubble containing Gir, and ran toward the unconscious Gaz. Without thinking, he closed the bubble and grabbed Gaz's ankle, tossing her over his shoulder. He ran into the large forest, dodging the trees and listening to the voices of soldiers coming from the purple hovercrafts above the highest branches.

As he ran, the forest became more dense, and the hovercrafts fell behind. He slowed, and realized that there had been other sounds among the voices of the soldiers. Gaz had awaken and was screaming like crazy, while Gir screeched, as he said, "like a howler monkey."

He tried to shush them, but they didn't hear him.

He threw them both to the ground in anger. Gaz scowled up at him, and Gir just started rolling around happily.

"What the hell-" Gaz started.

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?" He yelled, irritated.

Gaz glared.

"No, I will not shut up! What the hell do you think you're doing, kidnapping me again?"

Zim hesitated. He really didn't know.

"I...guess I just panicked."

Gaz stood up.

"Whatever. I'm leaving."

She looked around, then turned to Zim.

"Which way is the way out?"

"You're not going to tell _them_ where I am, are you?"

"I couldn't care less."

He looked around.

"Yeah, I don't know." he said after a moment.

"You don't KNOW?" Gaz stomped up to him and punched him in the face.

"Hey! It's a big forest!" he said defensively after he had recovered.

"I can NOT believe this!" she crossed her arms and turned around, shaking her head.

Zim sighed. "Look, let's just go one way, eventually we'll come out and you can go home."

She spun on her heel and stomped away in a random direction.

"Where are you going?"

"Where do ya think?"

Zim picked up Gir's bubble and followed.

This journey wasn't going to be pleasant, he was sure of it.

**And the real adventure begins.**


	20. Flashback 3, PI

**Part I**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

Zim's fist sped towards the door, then hesitated just before it hit. He looked back at his faithful robot servant, who urged him on.

Zim grimaced, then his face grew angry. He kicked open the door and walked in uninvited. He hated that he had to do that.

Because now, he was in enemy territory.

His rival, Dib, was sitting on the couch, his hand hovering an inch above the phone receiver on the coffee table. His face was...wet, for some reason.

Then, Zim realized. He had been crying.

Crying.

He had the urge to laugh, but knew this was not the time and place. He swallowed his laughs and cleared his throat.

"Dib-human," he said without emotion. "I need to use your lab."

Dib looked at him, then looked away.

"Yeah, okay."

Zim stiffened. Had he just willingly let his greatest enemy take advantage of his own technology.

"You... are not going to make me leave?"

Dib scowled. "There's more to my life than _you, _Zim."

Zim looked at him questioningly.

"Well... I admit not as much more as there _should _be, but still more!"

Zim was reluctant to help the human filth, but there was something somewhat disturbing about his behavior.

"Er..." he hesitantly stepped towards him and patted him on the head quickly.

Dib looked at him strangely.

"Are you trying to...comfort me?"

"Your...depression disturbs Zim." he straightened. "Now, tell Zim what is wrong so that you may feel better and I can defeat you properly."

"Well..." Dib looked at the phone, as if willing it to ring. "I've put out signs with a picture of Gaz on them. I don't know where she is! Dad's taking us out for pizza tonight. Gaz _never_ misses a dinner with dad!"

Zim pondered for a moment. He thought of the skid mark he had seen in the front yard.

"Have you checked the garage, perhaps?"

"Yeah, but she wasn't there. The only weird thing was..." his eyes widened in realization.

Duh!" he smacked his giant head. "She took Tak's ship! How did I not think of that? But... where could she be?"

"I'm sure she'll be back in time for dinner." Zim walked to the back of the room. Dib stood up.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"

Zim looked at him over his shoulder.

"What do you mean? You said Zim could use your lab!"

"DID NOT!"

Zim turned abruptly.

"YOU LIIEEE!"

He smiled internally. _There_ was the filth he knew and hated!

"What do you need _my_ lab for, anyway? You have your own!"

Zim scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.

"I...er...kind of...you know...blew it up?"

Dib looked shocked, then started laughing.

"How...how did..you manage..to...to blow up your base?" he said in between laughs.

"Just the bottom half!" Zim said defensively. "And it was an inexplicable accident!"

"Inexplicable?" Dib asked after he had sobered up a bit.

"Well... I got mad at Gir-"

"EEEEEEEE!" Gir's voice screeched happily from outside.

"-and there was a flash of light, and all my equipment was shattered into a million pieces that not even I, the almighty invader Zim, could piece back together!"

Dib thought.

"Hmm... why don't you try getting angry again? Uh, outside." he added quickly.

Zim walked outside and looked around. He turned to Gir.

"Gir! Make me angry."

Gir just sat there, staring at a butterfly.

"GIR! THAT WAS AN ORDER!"

Dib gasped. Zim was glowing green, and the more he yelled, the greener he got. Dib ran up and kicked him in the shin, which was the only place he could reach now that the invader was so tall.

He turned to Dib and glowed brighter.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" Dib jumped back, partly because of Zim's wild glare, but mostly because Zim's green aura actually _burned_.

"Okay, Zim," he said soothingly. "Calm down. It was just an experiment. I just need you to _calm down."_

Zim's aura dimmed a bit and his glare turned into an irritated stare.

Dib observed him, like the paranormal investigator he was.

"Alright, Zim, I may need to do some tests on you..."

Zim growled and his aura grew brighter again.

"Woah! Woah!" Dib held his arms out, trying to calm the alien down. He slowly reached his hand down to reach into his pocket. He pulled out a medical needle and hid it behind his back.

"It's okay, Zim. Everything is going to be juuust-" he suddenly pulled out the needle and threw it at Zim. It landed on his chest and stuck.

"ARGH!" he growled. In his panic to get it out, he accidentally pushed the plunger and injected the liquid into himself, which wasn't really his smartest move.

His aura faded and he wobbled a bit. Dib smiled triumphantly, then noticed that Zim was already starting to steady.

"Whoah," he muttered. "How could it possibly wear off so fast?"

Before Zim could fully recover, he pulled out three more needles and stuck them into his arm, injecting them all at the same time.

Zim wobbled, then passed out.

Dib knew that usually, he would be exited to tear the alien scum apart piece by piece, but this time was different.

This time was for science.

**Note: Yay! Cliffhanger! Don't worry, I would usually switch to Gaz next time we do a flashback, but I'll do part 2 next time! Of course, there will be a few chapters in between them, but it'll be here!**


	21. Flashback 3, PII

**Quick before note: Okay, I didn't want to wait! I'll do Part II now! Will there be a Part III? I dunno, maybe! Depends on how long this will take.**

**Part II**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

Zim woke up inside a dark lab. He was incredibly drowsy. He noticed that he was breathing through some kind of mask and that there was a needle stuck in his arm. He pulled it out sleepily and his eyes followed the tube connected to the needle. The tube ended at some kind of machine, which had been pumping a clear liquid into his arm.

He started waking up more. As soon as he ripped off the mask, his mind became clear. He noticed that he was strapped down onto some kind of narrow table. He shook violently, trying to slip out.

"Oh, crap, you're awake." A voice came from somewhere to his right. He looked over and saw his rival, Dib, staring at him, as if analyzing him.

Zim growled. He didn't really know he could make such an animal-like noise, but he didn't want to focus on that. He wanted to get the heck out of there.

"You don't know _how_ much sedative I had to keep you on constantly just to keep you somewhat asleep!" Dib went on, walking up to him calmly and writing on a clipboard.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO ME?"

"Woah," Dib backed off and looked at a nearby machine, which was beeping insanely. "Okay, calm down, Zim, it's alright!"

"NO, IT IS DEFINITELY NOT ALRIGHT!"

The machine beeped more.

"Zim, calm down! If you don't, you'll blow up the lab, and neither of us would have access to one! Just look at yourself!"

Zim glanced down at himself. He gasped.

He was glowing!

He marveled at the sight for a moment, then realized that several sensors and such were stuck to his bare chest, and wires connected them to monitors around him.

He struggled against the straps. He seriously needed to get out of there!

"It's no use," Dib stated. "Those straps are indestru-" he stopped cold when they snapped, one by one. Zim stood and ripped off all the sensors. He glared at Dib.

"Zim is no test subject, Dib." he looked down at the much shorter human, utter hatred in his glare.

"Wait, WAIT!" Dib stared up at him, horrified.

"Look, I'm sorry I started experimenting on you without your permission, but don't you want to know what happened to you? Why you're like this? What you're capable of now?"

Zim narrowed his eyes. His light dimmed a bit. He made a fist out of his three pointed fingers on each hand.

"Fine," he said after a moment. "But from now on, we're doing it _my_ way."

Dib nodded eagerly.

That was the beginning of a horrible friendship.

**After note: Haha, at least it was at first. Anyway, sorry this was kind of short. Yeah. Well, let's get back to the actual story next chapter, shall we?**


	22. Finally

When Gaz woke up, she saw trees blurring past. She soon realized that there was a hand on her waist and she looked back to see Zim holding her over his shoulder and running like crazy. She started yelling for his attention, screaming "PUT ME DOWN!" among various insults and curses.

She realized he couldn't hear her over the sounds of other people yelling and looked up to see her soldiers chasing them just above the trees in purple hovercrafts. She screamed louder.

"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TAKING ME WITH YOU, YOU DAMN IDIOT?" But of course, he still didn't hear her.

As the soldier's voices faded away, they slowed and came to a stop. Gir was screaming insanely, saying something about a monkey every now and then, and Gaz tried her best to scream over him. She was furious!

She noticed Zim tried to shush her, but she refused to be ignored.

"WHY AM I HERE?" she yelled, just before he threw her and Gir, which she just realized had woken up, too, to the ground. Gir started rolling around, as if nothing was wrong, and Gaz scowled up at her captor.

"What the hell-"

"WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP?" he interrupted. Gaz could've sworn she saw a faint green glow, but guessed she was just kind of out of it from being knocked out.

"No, I will not shut up!" she retorted. "What the hell do you think you're doing, kidnapping me again?"

The imaginary (or at least she hoped it was) glow faded, and Zim hesitated.

"I...guess I just panicked."

Gaz stood up. She couldn't believe he had done that! She also couldn't believe that it was possible for her to hate him more, but there they were.

"Whatever. I'm leaving."

She looked around for maybe some kind of path. She tried looking through the trees, but all she could see was just more trees. She turned back to Zim.

"Which way is the way out?" she asked.

He looked at her cautiously. "You're not going to tell _them_ where I am, are you?"

"I couldn't care less."

He looked around.

"Yeah, I don't know." he said after a moment.

"You don't KNOW?" Gaz was furious. Without thinking, she stomped up to him and punched him in the face for being so stupid.

"Hey!" he said after his head had snapped back into place. "It's a big forest!"

"I can NOT believe this!" Gaz crossed her arms and turned away from him, shaking her head.

Zim sighed behind her. "Look, let's just go one way, eventually we'll come out and you can go home."

Gaz spun on her heel and walked away, wondering how, after 1,000 years, he could still be as stupid and creepy as he was when they were kids. Well, at least, _she_ had been a kid. She didn't really know about him.

"Where are you going?" he asked from behind her. Exhibit A.

"Where do ya think?" Gaz replied impatiently.

She heard his footsteps behind her. Of course, he just _had_ to follow her.

They walked in silence for a while. Gaz cooled down a bit and looked at him over her shoulder. He had put Gir's bubble in front of his feet and kicked it with every step. Gir was laughing like a madman.

Gaz wondered why they were here, and how they had gotten here in the first place, with all the security she had placed around the planet.

She sighed as she realized that the only way she would find out was if she asked.

"So, er..." she started reluctantly. "Why... how'd you get here, anyway?"

Zim looked up, a little surprised. He had some spacey look in his eyes as he no doubt was lost in his memories.

"Well," he started after a moment. "After you kicked my, er, _the_ Tallests off of the planet and made everyone turn on them, the only one they could come to was me, actually."

Gaz felt her eyes widen.

"But, I thought I'd ordered them to be _killed!_"

"Well, yes, they were pretty close to death when I found them. They had landed in the forest back on Earth, the one I chased you through so long ago. I used to experiment with my new powers there, so it wasn't long before I found them."

He looked down. He seemed sad and angry at the same time. "They marveled at how tall I was. I asked them if they were there to evaluate my progress as an invader, but they told me that they had been lying all that time. They told me I wasn't really invader, but they had just sent me to Earth because they had thought that it was a myth at the time, and that I would probably die on the way.

"Which was actually pretty stupid, considering that they depended on _me_ to save their lives."

He paused. Gaz didn't know yet what it had to do with everything, but deep down, she felt sorry for him. Of course, she refused to let it show.

"They also told me that an insanely powerful human had tried to kill them and had taken over their empire. I guessed that it could only be you, since you were missing."

He smiled faintly. "He never stopped looking, you know."

Gaz slowed a bit. "Who?" she said quietly.

"Dib."

She looked away.

"I wish I never asked," she said, almost silently. She ran ahead. Of course, _his_ footsteps were still behind her.

Why couldn't he just go away? She didn't _want_ to talk about her brother, she didn't _want_ to talk about what she had left behind, she didn't _want_ to talk about the people she'd tried to kill to get where she was.

She stopped abruptly and fell to her knees. She looked through the trees and saw how dark the sky was. Suddenly, a feeling of extreme exhaustion came over her.

She leaned against a nearby tree and saw Zim run in.

"I'm going to sleep." she grumbled and turned away from him. She heard rustling and glanced over her shoulder.

He was laying on his back now, just looking at the stars. Even Gir had calmed down quite a bit and was sitting cross-legged in his bubble, watching the both of them silently.

Gaz soon fell asleep, enjoying the darkness that had fallen over her.

Finally, the longest day of her life had ended.

**Note: Okay, well, since Fanfiction is being a freaking bitch (don't be all offended by my language, this _is_ rated T, after all) along with my incredibly slow internet, I can't spell check anything. It's late, my throat hurts like hell, and my computer's the slowest and stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life, I'm not exactly in a good mood. So, don't get on my case about bad spelling, please! Anyway, hope you enjoyed! *fake smile plastered on my face***

**(I like you people, I really do, but I am just REALLY mad)**


	23. Stars

**Note: Heh, heh, just read over that note I left last chapter... I'm really sorry about that, by the way. There's no telling what I'll do when I switch moods, which is like switching whole personalities for me. Anyway, thanks moop! (Replying to an anonymous review, as always!) Also, I can't wait 'till the next chapter! I've been planning this, ahem, 'moment' for a while now and the next chapter is when most of it happens! Enjoy!**

Zim ran behind Gaz with Gir, who was laughing loudly, in his arms. He knew he shouldn't have brought up Dib.

'Maybe I should tell her about his personality being downloaded into a hologram...' he thought.

'Wait a minute... What am I thinking? I shouldn't care less if she hates me or not!' That one word, _shouldn't_, echoed through his mind.

He shook his head, pushing the thought aside. He saw Gaz stop and fall to her knees, looking at the dark night sky. She moved to a nearby tree and leaned on it tiredly. Zim ran in and glanced in her direction.

"I'm going to sleep." she grumbled and turned away from him. He put Gir on the ground and plopped down on top of the fallen leaves. He slid his hands behind his head and glanced sideways at Gir, who was sitting quietly and staring at him.

"Gir," he whispered as quietly as possible. "Aren't you tired?" the little robot shook his head, pulled a waffle out of nowhere, and chewed silently.

Zim looked up at the stars, noticing how small they seemed. Of course, with his new advanced vision, he could probably zoom in on them until they looked about the size the sun did during the day, but then they might not seem so...beautiful.

Then again, who was he to appreciate beauty? He was the superior, almighty Zim! He had always been proud, maybe even a little too proud, but still proud. He didn't care about the beauty of anything except for the beauty of victory.

When did that start sounding so shallow?

He unconsciously glanced towards Gaz, who was snoring loudly as she slept. It must've been a long day for her. How many hours were left until daylight, anyway? Out here, there was no way to tell.

He looked back up at the sky. It was much more similar to the Earth's night sky than he thought it would be. Of course, there were different constellations, but what difference did that truly make?

Lost in his thoughts, he started drifting off to sleep. It seemed like so long since he had had a peaceful sleep, a good 8 or 9 hours without worry of being taken by "Lord" Gaz's soldiers. Or even her guards.

He sleepily smirked, his eyes sliding closed. Those guards were complete idiots. The soldiers, on the other hand, were on a much higher level. He didn't worry about the lower ranked soldiers much, but the higher ranked he had to watch out for.

They weren't nearly as fast, strong, or quick as he was. But they were smart.

He drifted deeper into sleep. It was so nice to finally end that long day.

So...nice...

**Another note: Yeah, this is short, I know, **_**but**_** that means I can get to the 'moment' quicker! Yeah, that means I'm gonna start writing it now!**


	24. Antennae

_Gaz stood, staring at a giant shadow in front of her. It was at least a million times her size, and was the darkest shade of black imaginable._

_Suddenly, two ruby red eyes appeared where the head would be, along with a sharp-toothed grin. The eyes were wild, and more frightening than anything Gaz had ever seen. The giant stepped forward, although it didn't make a noise. Gaz tried to step back, but she was paralyzed._

_A much, much shorter shadow appeared in front of the larger one, which had stopped moving, but was still fixing his wild gaze on her. The smaller shadow, shorter than Gaz, had ruby red eyes, too. But, they were much bigger. They were kind of evil-looking, but innocent compared to the giant's. It's grin was less sharp and more zipper-like. Suddenly, Gaz was shrinking down to it's size, her hair shortening and her eyes squinting shut, although she could still see. She suddenly looked as she had a bit over 1,000 years ago. She found herself wanting to play a video game, but knew this wasn't the time._

_The giant shadow started walking again, in her direction. The smaller shadow laughed evilly, then disintegrated, as if blown away by the wind that she couldn't feel. The giant moved closer and closer. It eventually came to a stop, dramatically lifting it's foot up over Gaz's head._

_If she could move, she could win. But she knew she was done for._

_When the giant's foot reached it's peak, it came down, right over Gaz's head. Time slowed. It was 10 feet away. 9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1-_

Gaz sat up, breathing heavily. She looked above her head. Leaves and a bright morning sky. She reached behind her. She felt the bark of a tree and let out the air she didn't realize she was holding in.

She looked to her right and saw Zim in the same position he had been before she fell asleep. His hands were behind his head and he was breathing deeply. Gir was sleeping in his little bubble, periodically twitching and giggling quietly.

Gaz sat and thought for a moment, trying her hardest to keep her dream out of her mind. Her gaze wandered around the general area, and for no reason rested on Zim's hair.

A though suddenly came into her mind. 'I wonder... does he still have anntenae?'

His hair stuck up, almost anime-style, (see author's note) so it was hard to tell. Cautiously, she slid closer to look. His hair was jet-black, so she couldn't really tell.

Suddenly, he murmered someting and she backed off an inch or two. After a moment, she bent forward again to look closer. Still, nothing.

"Well," she whispered as quietly as possible. "Only one way to find out, huh?" Fearless as always, she slowly reached her hand forward. She smiled mischievously as she searched through his hair.

'Awkward?' she thought. 'Nah.'

Soon, she found something. It felt less like his hair and more like a little tube. It was smooth, and had some kind of little complicated texture. It felt good on her skin, so she ran her fingers along it a few times, as if petting a cat.

Speaking of cat, she could've sworn she heard a light _purr._ She unknowingly gave a half smile. It was actually a pretty nice moment.

Until, of course, he woke up.

**Note: Heehee, well ain't THAT gonna be awkward! Also, regarding the anime-style hair thing, I always see stories in my mind's eye as anime style, because I think it looks awesome. So, when I think of this story, I actually think of Zim as looking like he does in Manifest Doom on Snafu Comics, if you've ever heard of it. On the most recent page of the comic as I write this, he actually has his wig on and no contacts (cause Gaz hit him and knocked them out), which is handy. If you haven't heard of it, google it! Anyway, I might write the next chapter now, which I know isn't exactly smart of me, but, eh, what are ya gonna do? I can't help myself!**


	25. Awkward Moments

**Note: 'One more!' I say to myself, 'One more!' So, here it is, the third chapter tonight.**

Zim was half asleep, it seemed. Not really aware of what was happening around him. He mumbled to himself, "What's going on out there?" but it came out more like, "Wass goin ou tha?"

He could've sworn he heard some whispering, but he didn't really care right then. He thought sleepily about the nice early-morning smell, and felt a tickle on his scalp. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't focus on _that_ for too long.

Then, he felt something on his antennae. It felt _really_ nice! He purred, smiling.

But, a thought popped into his mind that shocked him out of his sleep:

'WHO THE HELL IS TOUCHING ME?'

He sat up and backed away as quickly as he could and stared, wide eyed, at the guilty expression on Gaz's face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Gaz's face hardened. "Whatever I feel like."

"WHY? What reason could you POSSIBLY have to go rummaging around in my HAIR?" his anger rose.

"Like I said, genius, 'cause I FELT like it!"

"Don't you even THINK about what you're about to do before you do it?"

"Yeah, no. Not really." she said sarcastically.

"Didn't you consider what doing that might MEAN to an Irken?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Gaz hesitated. "What _does_ it mean?"

"Err..." he paused. Well, he _really_ didn't want to tell her that it meant-

"UH-OH!"

'Crap,' he thought. 'Gir is awake.'

"Aw," his little robot servant continued. "Did ya forget what that means?"

Zim shook his head, in a signal to say 'Don't say it!', which of course, Gir didn't understand.

"Well, Gazzy needs to know!" he turned to Gaz, who was smirking. "It _means_ that if ONE person touches anothers antennae on _purpose,_ it means they's pickin' their MATE!"

Zim sat, eyes wide, as Gaz's smirk faded.

"Y-you mean..." she grimaced and shook her hands violently.

"Nawww..." Gir said loudly. "She _loveesss_ you, master!"

Zim suddenly got angry and stood up.

"Do you not even have any common sense?"

Gaz stood up and glared back at him.

"I don't _need_ common sense! Ugh, does this mean we're MARRIED?"

"You'd better hope not!"

"Well, ya coulda WARNED me!"

"Excuse me if I thought I could go to sleep without having people just start _touching_ me for no apparent reason!"

"Well, ya probably can, you're not really _attractive_ enough to be raped."

They paused. Suddenly Gaz's eyes widened.

"Oh. My. God." she jumped up onto a branch and looked around frantically.

"What the hell are you doing _now,_ looking for some innocent passerby to harass?"

"I'm looking for the nearest stream! I seriously need to wash my hands!"

Zim sighed with disgust. He felt so _invaded._ It wasn't like she _raped_ him or anything, but it was almost like she had proposed or something. Such a _no._

She jumped down and ran in a certain direction. Zim followed, hearing Gir rolling after him.

He saw Gaz kneel by a stream and rub her hands around in the water frantically. Irken water was actually a lot like Earth's water, and there wasn't really any way to tell the difference, other than the smell. It was hard to explain the difference, but that wasn't really important at the moment.

After 3 straight minutes of Gaz washing her hands, Zim sighed angrily.

"I believe I've stood here being insulted for long enough. When you're ready to, you know, go _home,_ I'll probably already be out of the forest."

He turned and walked away in a random direction, hearing Gaz's footsteps not too far behind.

They walked for a while. 'Well,' Zim thought. 'That went well.'

**Note: Heehee. Yeah. I haven't gotten any reviews for the last three chapters, but that's okay, as long as **_**someone**_** does eventually. I mean, I just posted them, so no hurry. **


	26. Banana Doom

**Note: Alright! Time to shout out to the anonymous reviewers!**

**moop: Thanks!**

**Tana P: Haha, yeah. **

**Hula hula hula: Yeah, he has hair in MY story! Don't worry about it, I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed either! *gasp* is your forehead okay?**

**So, sorry for taking so long, for one, I didn't have much inspiration, also we wiped my computer because it was so slow. Good news, now it's like new! Bad news, I had to spend forever waiting for my dad to stop downloading his lame Star Wars games (no offense for you...Star Warsians...) and...yeah.**

**Also, HI ALLY! HI! HI! HI! HI! HI! PEDRO SAYS HI, TOO! Well, actually he said much worse, but I edited it until it was rated G! Let's just say it was for Scarlet.**

**Alright, now to the awkward conversation!**

"So, I suspect that I am not getting an apology from you, am I?"

"Nope."

Zim and Gaz were walking through the forest with Gir rolling after them. He was laughing and had a bunch of muffins rolling around with him, and every few seconds another one would pop out of his head.

"What's with that stupid way to..._mate,_ or whatever, anyway?" Gaz paused before saying the word, not sure if it was something she wanted to think about too hard.

"I do not make the laws, I just know them."

"Don't you mean you 'just follow' them?"

"No."

"Right."

They walked in silence for a moment, then Gaz smirked.

"So, what was with the purring?"

From behind him, she could see Zim's face grow to a darker shade of green.

"Uh...I purred?"

"Yeah. Were you not supposed to?"

He didn't reply.

"HE PURRS JUST LIKE A GIRAFFE!" Gaz heard Gir's voice behind her.

"So, did you sleep well?" Zim said, quickly changing the subject.

Gaz hesitated, being reminded of the dream she had.

"Not really."

Zim's head perked up with interest. "What do you mean?"

"None of your beeswax, Giraffe Boy."

"Beeswax?" he mumbled to himself. He shrugged and kept moving.

"So, are we gonna die of starvation in this stupid forest or what?"

"I guess we'll just keep walking until-"

"By 'are we,' I mean 'am I.'"

"Ummm..."

She smacked him in the back of the head. "I _mean,_ get me some food, Smart One!"

He scowled as he looked back at her, rubbing his head where she hit it.

"You can take care of yourself, 'Oh Great Lord of Most of the Universe!'" He added sarcastically.

"Yeah, woulda been _all_ of the universe if it wasn't for those wierdos from the 'future'..."

Zim seemed to ponder something for a moment.

"The purple haired one, your relative, correct?"

"I guess so..."

"She said I was to be the, er, 'Wife of the House' or something. What is that supposed to mean?"

Gaz paused.

"Ugh, stop stalling! Fine, I'll get the freaking food on my own." she walked away, glad she had found an excuse not to answer his question. She looked around, focusing her sharp eyes up at the top of the trees. Soon, she saw something.

She jumped up, landing crouched on a branch. She reached out in front of her and took hold of a strange fruit. It was purple and had several lumps on it the size of large marbles. She turned it over in her hand, and noticed that places she had touched turned yellow, then slowly faded back to purple.

"Hey!" she called to Zim, who was staring at Gir, who was singing a strange song about doom and bananas, which he called 'Banana Doom.'

"HEY!" she yelled louder.

He looked up.

"Is this safe to eat?" she threw one toward his head, but he was too fast. He held it in his hands. A grin spread across his face.

"Yes!" he called back up. "Actually, here on Irk, it's quite a rare delicacy! Some people love it so much they devote their whole lives to finding these and die unfufilled."

Gaz jumped back down.

"Sounds like my kinda fruit!" she bit it and nodded her head. It _was_ pretty good. She ate the rest of the bit she had in her hands and looked over at her traveling, er, not so much _companion_ as _enemy._ His fruit lay uneaten in his gloved hands.

"Aren't you gonna eat it?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled by the bites of fruit in her mouth. He grinned again, which was making Gaz angry for some reason.

"I'm saving it for later." she shrugged and walked on.

"Sure, why not? Starve all ya want. Just stop grinning like that, you look like a pedophile."

She had no idea what was about to happen to her next.


	27. Loopy Fruit

**Woohoo! The return of the chick named suckishLEMONADE who seemed to fall off the face of the Earth! I had a root beer and some chocolate ice cream, so let's see how weird this chapter's a-gonna be! **

**Also, since I just posted the last chapter, no need to reply to any reviews, 'cause they're not there.**

**WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO! Pedro's a-gonna be-a CARAMELLDANSEN! Sorry, moment. SAY HI PEDRO!**

**Pedro: No.**

**IT'S A TWO LETTER WORD, I'LL TAKE IT! **

**(You don't know who Pedro is. Let's keep it that way, or Pedro will have to destroy you!)**

**Pedro: Oh, no, don't you dare drag me into anything illegal!**

**ANYWAY, on to the story! And stuff!**

**WAIT! MORE STALLING, I JUST GOT A REVIEW!**

**To 'I'm Most Definetly Not Ally': good luck with that! Pedro: Yeah, hey, Tom, guess what? SHUT UP!**

"YOU FREAKING IDIOT! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME!"

Zim had been hiding his laughter, but could no longer hold it in. He burst out, laughing so hard tears rolled down his face.

Gaz's skin was now completely purple, and whenever she touched her face in the reflection of the nearby stream of water she had yellow fingerprints on her cheek. It had only taken about five minutes after she had eaten the fruit to get like that.

Zim hadn't lied about the fruit being safe to eat, but he _did_ lie about people searching for it. People actually usually went out of their way to avoid it. Zim looked at the sky, using the shadows of the trees around him to guess the time.

"Well," he said, mostly done laughing, although Gaz was still yelling. She stopped.

"What?" she growled.

"Well, the bad news is that the skin condition will last a few days."

"And there's good news?"

"Yeah. The 'loopiness,' as you may call it, only lasts an hour or two."

"The what?"

Zim just grinned. Suddenly, Gaz's eyes focused on something in the distance. She hunched over and gave a wobbly smile.

"I feel happy now."

Zim chuckled. He knew he was probably going to get it later, but it was probably worth it to not have her yelling at him constantly for a few hours.

Gir rolled up to Gaz.

"Is Gaz okay? Heloooo?" Gaz looked down.

"MUFFINS!"

Gir grinned.

Then the two started doing and saying the most random things. It was like having two Girs!

After a while, Zim looked at the shadows of the trees again. They had been there for at least 20 minutes.

He walked up to Gaz, who was singing Gir's 'Banana Doom' song with him and gently held her shoulders. He guided her away and she giggled.

"I like that fruit."

"I know you do. I know you do." Zim said soothingly.

He tried hard to hold back his laughter. If he got Gaz laughing too, who knows how long they'd be there?

He guided Gaz along, wondering if the length of time before the fruit wore off was the same for a human as it was for an Irken.

**Note: Okay, I'm not sure who the next chapter will focus on. Eh, we'll figure it out.**


	28. Playing With Fire

**Note: Okay, I decided to have it focus on Zim until the loopyness is el-gone-o.**

**To Fred Bob and Tom: Yeah, good luck with that. And Gazzy, you will never leave. NEVER. *pause* GOOD LUCK WITH THAT! Heehee. Fred.**

Zim led Gaz through the forest, being sure to guide her away from anything she might trip over. The whole time, she had a wobbly grin spread across her face.

Eventually, she started giggling. Her giggling grew until she was laughing so hard Zim had to make her sit on the ground before she fell and hit her head on a rock.

"What is so funny?" he asked.

She tried to answer, but it was hard because she was laughing so much. After she had calmed down a bit, she said in between laughs: "I...I really don't know!" she burst out laughing again. Zim rolled his eyes, although he was smiling.

Gir rolled up to Gaz and they laughed together. Zim stood and looked around for a bit of food that _wouldn't_ turn him into a temporary purple psychopath. He heard a rustling and saw a small animal moving through the bushes. It was a creature that was much like an Earth rabbit, only a little bigger, had a rat's tail, and it was usually a deep green color, with no ears.

He chased it down and caught it. He snapped it's neck for a quick, painless death and looked around for a good place to make a fire. He knew it should be a little ways away from Gaz and Gir, so he gathered a few sticks into a pile about a yard away from them.

He snapped his fingers and a little green flame emerged. He flicked it onto the twigs, and after a moment of burning, it turned to yellow. Gaz immediately stopped laughing and stared in wonder.

"Pretty lights..." she murmured. She looked like she wanted to touch it, but held herself back for fear of making it want to leave.

Zim went to work on cooking the animal he had caught. Within five minutes it was almost done. He knew Gir was okay without a share, because his bubble was still full of muffins, so he split it between him and Gaz.

She looked at the meat in her hand and cocked her head. She blinked, then smiled. She ate it quickly, then stood up. She wobbled for a bit, walked one step to the side, then sat back down.

"What was that all about?" Zim asked, halfway through his own meal.

Gaz shrugged, then played with her fingers. She held them out towards him, although he was way too far away to reach them.

"What are these?"

"Your fingers, Gaz."

"Oooohhhh! What are they for?"

"Erm, grasping things, I guess."

"Ooh, like the pretty lights?"

"No, Gaz, don't!" he reached out, but was too late. She had already scooted to the fire and was trying to hold a flame. She furrowed her brows.

"It's not staying! Why doesn't it like me?"

She pulled our her fingers, which were covered in flames kept alive by the edge of her sleeve. She smiled.

"It hurts!" She said proudly.

Zim hurried and sat near her, turning her away from the fire and towards him.

"I would guess so."

He muffled the flame with his gloved hand. He held it there for a while, and he didn't know why. Time seemed to stop. It took a minute for him to realize that he was looking into her eyes and she was looking right back.

He backed away quickly and stomped out the fire. Gaz looked horrified.

"Where'd the pretty lights go?"

"They'll be back. For now, we have to keep moving."

Gaz simply tilted her head to the side and stared at him. He helped her up and guided her like he had before, his hands on her shoulders. Gir rolled after them, laughing all the way.

**Random note: HAHAHA! (y'know, like Jingle Bells? Ah, whatever.)**


	29. Flashback 4

**Note: Let's start with the Awesomely Anonymous, shall we?**

**Grease Lightning: Um, first off, were you watching Grease? It would be funny if you weren't. And yes, fire is awesome. Something MIGHT explode in this chapter!**

**You'll Never Know: Yes, I love epicness. It be awesome. YAY! YOU GET A COOKIE!**

**Soooo...yeah. If you haven't noticed, I haven't been updating like 2 times a day like I used to. Well, school has started (otherwise known as Hell Hole) and I seem to be failing math. YIPEDEE-FREAKIN-DOO. So, here is a chapter!**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

Gaz held her foot on Purple's head, pinning him down. She had a gun pointed to his face, and he was shaking with fear. Gaz laughed cruelly.

"Thought you were so _powerful,_ so _awesome_. Wrong."

Just then, the other Tallest, Red, walked in.

"Hey, turns out they didn't run out of donuts, they were just-" he stopped cold when he saw Gaz.

"What? What are you doing in here?" His eyes wandered to the gun, then at his co-ruler. He dropped the donuts in his hand and started backing away. Gaz thrust her arm forward and a wall of black energy blocked his path.

With a flick of the wrist, the wall was turning into some kind of demonic rope that tied Tallest Red and caused him to fall.

"What the hell is going on here?" he shouted, trying to break free of the rope. But it was no use. No living being could _ever_ break free of Gaz's grasp, before _and_ after the transformation.

"Red," she demanded. She gave a short laugh. "What a stupid name. Just because your eyes are red, you have to make that your whole theme? Wear red, be called red? Like in a childish picture book. Pathetic."

He glared at her, still struggling.

"You're not even a worthy leader! Yes, you've come quite far in your quest for world domination, but that has _nothing_ do do with _you._"

She paused.

"Remember that one that you hated so much?" she said after a moment. "The invader you sent to Earth? Who you hoped would die along the way? Zim?"

Red stopped struggling for a moment.

"How do you know him?"

"Does that really matter at this point? _I'm _the one holding the gun, remember?" she pointed it up at the ceiling and shot. It made a huge hole straight through to the room above. "I think _I_ should be the one asking the questions here." Several Irkens looked through curiously, but did nothing.

"The point is," Gaz continued. "Even if he was also pathetic, he was much more powerful than you. And he couldn't even think up a half-wit disguise!" she added with a laugh.

Red glared at her. He then looked up at the aliens above him.

"Well, what're you waiting for? GET HELP!"

They simply stood there, staring.

"You see?" Gaz said, also looking up. "They don't care about you. They just follow the winning team." she looked back at Red.

"That's clearly not you anymore, is it?"

She moved the gun pointing at Purple and aimed it at Red. There was a click as she flipped off the safety lock. Both Red and Purple stared in horror as she held her finger on the trigger. It slid back a few millimeters.

Suddenly, the arm the gun was in was hanging limply at her side and she looked impatient.

"I don't need to waste my time on _you,_ I have a universe to dominate, y'know?"

She pointed behind her at a few guards who had wandered in to watch.

"You!" she demanded. They flinched.

"You work for _me_ now." She gestured to the former Tallests.

"Take them and kill them. Throw the bodies out of an air-lock. And you,"

She looked at the people above her.

"Tell the pilots, whoever they are, to head to planet Jaquers. We take them over first."

"Wait!" she heard a scared voice and realized her foot was still on Purple's head. She looked down.

"Yeah, what?"

"How did you even get here?"

"It's called a spaceship. One of your own, actually. I just hacked into the system and saw you were around here. Getting through the security was easy."

She walked away, leaving Purple and Red in the hands of the guards. She smiled evilly.

Step one, complete.

**Note: Aww, nothing exploded! Sorry...**


	30. Steve and a Game of Pinball

**Note: So, little story here, you know how Gaz said Zim looked like a pedophile? Well, for a while, I thought that just meant a **_**really**_** creepy pervert. I first heard it while watching a video on YouTube that made fun of an anime. So, I used that. A day or so ago, I wondered if I was right, so I searched it. Turns out it's a special **_**kind**_** of **_**really**_** creepy pervert that likes children! Not **_**likes**_** children, **_**LIKES**_** children.**

**Yeah.**

**And then I watched some scary pedobear videos. *shudder* So, now every time I think of what it means, I see an anime Invader Zim smiling creepily, then I think of the Pedobear.**

**YAY FOR DISTURBINGNESS!**

**So, anyway, to anonymous reviewers.**

**TheCrazyGirlYouNeverMet: Yeah, Fred is...a long story. We all love donuts, don't we? And, yes, she **_**did**_** have to mention him! Because she LUUZZZZ him! She just don't know it yet! XP**

**And, I'm not sure whether you're Quel or Cal, so hi to both of you!**

**Stealth dog: YAY! EVERYONE LIKES A GOOD COOKIE! Anyways, any comeback with the words 'your' and 'face' always make sense. Because they just do. XD**

**Okay, also, Chimera! Hey! Wazzap! Okay, well, I hope your'e not disappointed, but I have to alter your suggestion a bit in my mind. I'm not sure if I can have him brush it off. Also, I'm not sure if I can make it so...intelligent-looking.**

**I'm really sorry! I tried my hardest to keep it original, because I don't want to put you down or anything, but to have the story turn out anything like I was planning to, it's what's gotta be done! Seriously, I hope you're okay with it!**

**On to the story! Oh, and one more thing:**

**PEDOPHILE!**

**Did ya see it? Huh? Did ya see an anime Zim smiling creepily? Did ya?**

Zim walked Gaz along through the trees, keeping himself busy by just making sure she didn't blow something up. Before he knew it, it was dark again, and he was looking for a place to stop for the night.

Suddenly, he heard a faint rustling and moved ahead of Gaz, who was doing some kind of weird dance. She wasn't very good at it.

Zim looked through some tall bushes and saw a creature. He cursed under his breath. This creature wasn't _too_ bad of a threat, but it was really annoying to get rid of. Then, he smiled, realizing something.

He was much more powerful now.

He thought for a moment. With his new power, it should be much easier to take care of the creature now. He focused on what he was seeing through the bushes. The creature was completely white, other than it's gray wings and black bug-eyes. He wasn't sure why it had wings, because he had never heard of one flying, but that wasn't too important.

It had four arms and a mouth made of tentacles. He had antennae, too, and was a bit shorter than the usual human man. Basically, he was just a big bug, with a few attributes of a mammal. On Irk, they called it a malcolite.

He was about to lunge and get rid of it quickly, when he saw a flash of purple and slapped his forehead in aggrivation.

Gaz was trying to hug it.

The malcolite gave a high-pitched screech of fear, then tried to shake her off of his back. She just laughed, and yelled: "Yay! Buggy-back ride! Wooo!" Gir was on top of her head, yelling similar things.

"I'M GONNA NAME YOU STEVE!" Gaz yelled, while the creature was still running around like crazy.

Zim snapped into action. If he left the creature alone for too much longer, it would get over its panic and find a way to hurt her. They weren't that smart, but they could be dangerous when they wanted to be.

He grabbed both of Gaz's forearms and threw her to the side roughly, then shot a beam of energy at the creature. It screeched again and swiped at him. Zim dodged easily and shot again, causing the malcolite to retreat.

He sighed and glanced over at Gaz. She was pouting at him.

"What?" he said after a moment.

"Why'd you make Steve go away? Big meanie!" she threw Gir at his head, but he dodged it. Gir hit a tree, then bounced off and hit another, then another, so on. Like a game of pinball. Zim stepped out of the line of fire.

He looked over to where the malcolite had been. There was a cave there. The creature had probably been trying to make it his new home. Zim shrugged, grabbed a few bits of firewood, (being sure to dodge Gir while he was at it) then walked into the cave. He looked back over his shoulder.

"Are you coming?"

Gaz crossed her arms and pouted more. "I'm not going anywhere until Steve comes back!"

Zim shrugged. "Suit yourself. But, just to let you know, judging by the look of the plants..." he rubbed a leaf from one of the logs between two of his fingers, examining it.

"It looks like it's that time of the year."

Gaz looked up reluctantly. "What time?"

"Once every Irken year, there is an extreme temperature drop that lasts one night."

"I'm still not coming!"

"Freeze to death, do whatever you want, I don't really care. But Steve won't save you." he walked into the cave, leaving Gaz behind to continue her pouting. He lit the firewood and soon drifted off to sleep, his hands behind his head, wondering if Gaz was really going to freeze to death.


	31. The Loopy Fruit Wears Off

**Probably no anonymous reviews in this one, since i just posted the last one. Not unless they review before I'm done writing the chapter. I just really want to get to where I can do another flashback! I usually like to put at least 3 chapters in between the flashbacks, but the next one is one I'm looking forward to!**

Gaz sat and pouted more as the Meanie Greenie walked into the cave. She was proud of herself for coming up with that name. She thought it was funny that he was green and she was all purple and stuff.

She smiled, then remembered that she was supposed to be all mad, so she pouted again. She looked up at her new best friend, the little bubble-robot bouncing between the trees. It looked really fun!

He had fallen asleep while hopping from tree to tree. Looking at him, sleeping and bouncing, she began to yawn herself. She fought to keep her eyes open, then suddenly felt cold. She used the special powers she knew she had to warm up her blood stream a little, but it didn't do much good for long. She was too tired to keep it up and it kept getting colder. The colder it got, the harder it was to stay warm.

She looked over at the cave and pursed her lips, thinking. She really didn't want to go in there, but she was really cold.

She thought about what the meanie did. He had thrown her off of Steve and made him go away. Gaz didn't like that. But, he _had_ helped her make her fingers stop hurting from the pretty lights. 'Look, don't touch,' she thought to herself, nodding, her lips still pursed.

He had also given her the yummy fruit. And he gave her the meat. He had also helped her up when she had tripped over branches.

She decided he wasn't _that_ bad. Maybe he was just grumpy. Maybe he was sad that he didn't get to eat the happy fruit.

She got up, said to the snoring Gir, and crawled into the cave. Greenie was asleep. Gaz watched his chest rise and fall slowly for a moment, then crawled up to the pretty light, happy to be in the warmth. She reached her hand out to it, then halted. 'Look, don't touch,' she thought, then nodded. She looked over at Greenie again. For a reason unknown to her, she felt a flash of resentment. She thought she heard a scary sounding voice in her head, snarling at the sight of him. The voice was familiar.

She realized it sounded like her own, only darker. She remembered that she was a grumpy-guss without the happy fruit. She'd have to find more. It must have been wearing off.

She crawled up to Greenie and leaned down to listen to his breathing. She could her his heart, or whatever was there for his species, beating slowly. It was relaxing.

So relaxing, she decided to just lay down right there. She fell asleep quickly, soothed by slow breathing and a warm, crackling fire.

**(Annoying middle-of-story author's note: Naww, how romantic!)**

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Gaz woke up early in the morning, feeling groggy. She soon realized that her head was on a soft surface. She looked. Her eyes grew wide and she stood quickly, then most of the events of the past few days flooded into her mind. She grew angry and looked down at Zim.

She kicked his head as hard as she could and he woke with a start. He clutched his head and looked up at her angrily with his ruby-red eyes.

"What? Still angry about Steve?"

"Who the hell is Steve? I'm angry because I'm freaking PURPLE!"

Well, I guess the loopiness wore off.

"No der, Einstein, just figure that out yourself?"

"Who's Einstein?"

She grunted.

She stalked out of the cave and crossed her arms, looking at her surroundings. She saw Gir playing with a rabbit-like creature that she recognized for some reason. She had no idea why, but she knew it would taste delicious if cooked over a fire. She shrugged and turned toward the cave when she heard Zim coming out.

I'm going ot kick your ass today, she said, matter-of-factly.

He sighed. I'm sure you will. he turned towards Gir, picked him up, and walked through the trees, holding Gir under his arm like a football. He stopped a little ways away, then looked at her over his shoulder and grinned.

"But it was worth it."

Gaz snarled, blushing a bit when she remembered where she had woken up this morning. She wondered if he knew anything about it.

She hated him. So. Freaking. Much.


	32. Warm Spotted Arguments

**Hi! Just spent an hour and a half watching Death Note. Time well spent! Anyway, to anonymous dudeos.**

**Your Face: Thanks you for that... explanation. Here, I'll post it up.**

_**Scarlett: Dear TheCrazyGirlYouNeverMet, *takes a deep breath* I'm from another**_

_**story on fictionpress and Fred is my cat who's actually a girl, but I didn't**_

_**realize that till after I named her. She has Sudden Nervous Smasms, (SNSs)**_

_**most likely caused by claustrophobia, that cause her to leap backwards and**_

_**throw me backward in the process, she likes to jump on me for some unknown**_

_**reason and follow me around.**_

_**And that is the story of Fred.**_

**So very...interesting! And, no thanks, I'd rather not update my face. Not a fan of plastic surgery or botox. (Ha, I made a funny XP)**

**Did I reply to Stealth Dog yet? Well, whether I did or not, HI!**

**FRIGGIN' CRAP: Yeah, I'm kinda disappointed nothing exploded, too. Everyone is! I'M SO SORRY! *cry* Kay, I'm good. Also, Pedro is-**

**Pedro: Right here.**

**Heehee.**

**Pedro: What?**

**You know how I was talking about pedophiles?**

**Pedro: Unfortunately, yes.**

**Heehee. Pedrophile. **

**Pedro: Oh, god.**

**Get it? Pedro? Phile? haha!**

**Pedro: *growls***

**Pedro is mister grumpy. GUMMIE BEARS ROCK!**

**Anyway, bye Pedro! *Pedro disappears* (I had rootbeer. That is the source of my power. It gives me the awesome power of annoyingness. I kept going "Is that L? Who's L, anyway? Is that L? I think it's L. I saw someone on YouTube call him L. I hope it's L. I like L. Or do I like L? I don't know if I like L. L called himself justice. Heehee, L called himself a girl's name. L is a boy... Hopefully... Seriously, if L had a guy's voice and a guy's hair but was a girl I'd like explode.")**

**Am I annoying you: Yes, yes you are. But I annoy people, too! *shrug* It's a living.**

**Pedro: Not really.**

**DID I NOT TELL YOU TO LEAVE?**

**SuperH: *I have hypno-eye swirlies* *says in zombie voice* I will write more. But I will keep making cliffhangers. Haha on you! I. NEED. THAT. COOKIE! COOOKKKIIIIEEEE! (Yeah, you're not the only freak 'round here, buddy![Er, if you're a girl, do you prefer buddette?])**

As Zim walked, Gir under his arm like a football, Gaz following from a few yards behind, he wondered why he had a warm spot on his chest. He tried to just forget about it, but he just couldn't let go of it until he figured out what it meant.

After a minute of contemplating, he looked at Gaz over his shoulder. She scowled, catching his gaze.

"Gaz?" he asked.

"What do you want, asshole?"

He didn't really know what that was supposed to mean, but he ignored it.

"Did you try to set me on fire last night?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, see, there's like a warm spot on my chest and-"

"Keep walking, Pink-Eye, I want to go _home._" She interrupted quickly.

"Well, I know, but, I just can't figure out why-"

"Nobody gives a shit, okay?" she yelled.

"Well it looks like a certain _someone_ is at that time of the month, eh?" he muttered, looking forward again. He felt a hard _thump_ against the back of his head and guessed that Gaz had thrown a rock at him. Since it was followed by a slight burning sensation, he guessed that she had added a little power to it.

He rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"Then again, it seems like she _always_ is." he said, but this time in his own foreign language.

"Speak English, will ya?"

He spun to face her.

"Don't you think we'd get there faster if you could possibly, oh, I don't know, stop being a bitch?"

"It's just the simple power of motivation."

"Motivation?"

"Don't know what that means, Einstein?" she cocked her head, then said really slowly, as if talking to an infant: "Motivation means to help people keep going."

"Yeah, sure, more like kick them in the head and rub their face in the dirt, then threaten to slit their throat if they don't do it right."

"Well, then maybe I should be a little more _motivational,_ huh?"

"Watch it, Membrane, don't forget who _lost_ the fight."

"I wasn't as angry then as I am now."

"So anger gives you your power, is that it?"

"Pretty much. And I'm _always_ angry."

"No, really?" he said sarcastically.

"Don't make me _motivate_ you, buddy."

"Ha, I'd like to see you try."

"Don't give me any ideas."

"Like you could use them. Any thought that's not yours just _bounces_ off, doesn't it?"

"You don't know me!"

"I know you enough to know _that_ much."

"STOP FIGHTING!" Zim looked down at Gir, who was pouting.

"Stay outta this, ya bucket of bolts." Gaz said.

"Why can't Gazzy and master get along?"

"What did you just call me?" Gaz said.

"But I thought you LUVEDED eachother!"

Gaz gagged. Zim made a disgusted face.

"What the HELL made you think THAT?" He said, just about gagging himself.

"'Cause!" Gir said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I saw youz a-cuddling last night!"

"That was probably a dream, Gir."

"More like a nightmare." Gaz suggested.

"For once, I agree with you."

"No, it's TRUE!" Gir banged on the side of his bubble for emphasis. "I saw it myself!"

Zim felt his eyes widen. Well, it DID explain the warm spot.

He glanced over at Gaz, who's eyes had widened too. They stood like that for a moment.

Zim turned abruptly and walked on. "Better get going!"

"Diddo!" Gaz said, following after him.

And then came the awkward silence.


	33. Flashback 5, PI

**Okay, so now that my, er, **_**unannounced break from writing**_** (heh heh, of course!) is over, I'll get back to this thingamabober! Oh, also, overnight I became obsessed with another creation of Johnen's: JtHM. For those of you who do not realize what that is, haha! Anyway, it's freakin' awesome. Just to let you know.**

**(Guess what for those who have no clue who Johnen or JtHM is? Google is here to save the day!)**

**TheCrazyGirlYouNeverMet: Not sure if I replied yet. YAY COOKIE! Fred says hi. Pedro grunts. And I say, "WOOO! SUGAR!"**

**Illisandria Carthain: OMG! That is one of the nicest reviews I've had! Thanks so much! Also, the loopy fruit would be dangerous in me... heehee... *eats it, explodes***

**KURT ROCKS ON: *gets magically put back together* Yes, yes he does. Also, she has replied to TheCrazyGirl...blah blah blah... so I'll post it here for her. Same one who replied last time, different name.**

_**Dear TheCrazyGirlYouNeverMet:**_

_**You name is hard to type. Probably cuz I'm lazy and proud of it. Anyways, Fred**_

_**says hi!**_

**So, yay for that. I love the randomness. I SHALL FIND THE KURT WITHIN!**

**HI FLOUIS!**

**SuperH31265: Yeah. Cliffhangers are my THING! Are you SURE cliffs aren't fun to hang off of? Don't knock it 'till ya try it! You're life's dream has been fulfilled. By me. TWICE! IS THAT NOT DESERVING OF A COOKIE! NOOOO! COOOOKKIIIIEEEEE! I'm a freak too. Just in case you haven't noticed. XP**

**(Just noticed something. Fred is a cat. How can she say hi? THE QUESTIONS! THEY BUUURRRNNN!) Kay, now it be time for a flashback thingy! One that may be quite interesting. (Mr. Vasquez has me saying big words! Heehee. Yeah.)**

**Part I**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

The door flew open and hit the wall with a loud _slam!_ as Zim opened it, looking tired. Gir was in the living room, watching the Angry Monkey Show in his disguise. He looked over and screeched his welcome. Zim just grunted and trudged in, closing the door behind him.

"Whassa matta, Master?"

"Today's tests were...hard." he said after considering his answer for a moment. Suddenly, he fell flat on his face. He growled in anger, then opened his eyes and glanced over at what made him trip. He saw a small pad of paper where he had drawn himself taking over the world during Skool.

He gasped in realization. _Skool!_ He hadn't been there for who knows how long!

"Gir!" he demanded.

"Yes, my lord!" Gir said in his serious voice, standing up and saluting.

"How long has it been since I've gone to skool?"

"Exactly 8 days sir!"

"8 days! Shit!" Zim got up and ran down the hall, coming back with spare fake-eye contacts. He examined them and saw that they were much too big for his altered eyes, which were now human-shaped.

He got his computer to make new ones, then slid them on and looked at the clock, realizing that skool had ended hours ago. He sighed and slid the contacts off.

"I am going to have to remember to go tomorrow." he glanced at Gir, who was still saluting.

"Gir?"

"Yes, my lord!"

"Why are you wearing your disguise?"

Gir stopped saluting. "I went dancing today! It was FUN!"

"Why did you go dancing?"

"I dunno. It's booorrriiinnnggg when you're gone!"

"And people did not find it strange that they were dancing with a dog?" Zim said suspiciously.

Gir shrugged, then pulled a tube of pimple cream out of nowhere and walked away, sucking on the tip.

**Part 2, coming soon!**


	34. Flashback5, PII

**Yay! I have a little over an hour before i have to go to bed, and so I thought, 'Hey! Why not write another chapter, even though my head feels like it might explode? I'm in a good mood, listening to awesome music!' So, here we are.**

**ANONYMOUS REVIEWERS ROCK SO FRIGGIN' HARD! Sorry. Little remnant of my hyperness that always seems to appear in math class...hmmm...**

**OH er-FUDGE: Omg yay Kurt! Woot! Haha, sorry Flouis! Typos are just too fun to overlook!**

**SuperH31265: OMG! *nom, nom* I FRIGGIN' LOVE ME COOKIES! ARRGGHHH! Ooh, cupcake! Hmm... reminds me of someone...**

**"I miss my cupcake..."**

***smiles and nods* I'm so glad you can spell lurve! Luv! L...lerf...MEH! Anyway, I'm a girl in Indiana. Land of the boring and totally unremarkable. I'm not kidding. I knew tons of states when I was really little. I had NO clue Indiana existed until someone told me that was where I LIVE. Not kidding. DON'T DIE!**

**GREENis my fav color: Omg that's my fave color too! Anyway, yeah, it be hard to make every chapter funny. I'll try though. Promise. I think I have an opportunity in this chapter.**

**Here we go! **

**3...**

**2...**

**1...**

_**BOOM! EXPLOSION SOUNDS! WEEE! PRETTY LIGHTS!**_

**Oh, crap, WRONG BUTTON!**

**Part II**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

Zim walked on the street in front of the skool casually, as always. Suddenly, a small black shape came in front of him. He almost stepped on it. He backed up a step and glared at the stupid Earth child who had ignorantly walked in front of him.

It was Dib.

"What do you want, Dib-human? I'm just going to the education facility as always."

"Don't be stupid!" Dib said frantically, looking over his shoulder and pushing Zim into the shade of a tree.

"What is your problem, Earth-stink?" Zim growled. He had been doing that a lot lately, as if something primitive and wild had been awakened in him. He liked it. It sounded very intimidating.

"Don't you think people may notice that you turned from 9 to 18 over night?"

"I'll be fine," Zim said with a flick of the wrist, as if shooing away the subject. "I have heard of the human growth spurts."

"They're never this extreme!" Dib said, but Zim was already walking away confidently.

**LATER! *spinny sounds! doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-dooooo!***

Zim sat with his feet on the desk and his legs crossed. The area under his desk was much too small. He was zoning out, when he realized that the bell had rung, yet everyone, even Ms. Bitters, was silent.

He looked up. They were all staring at _him._ Ms. Bitters scowled at him for a moment longer, then started with her usual lecture about one thing or another being doomed. All of the students were still staring.

"What!" he said finally. Ms. Bitters seemed oblivious to the talking, as always she was absorbed into her own disturbing little world.

The students gasped at his lower voice. Zim looked over at Dib, who's expression seemed to say, 'I TOLD you this would happen!' Zim just pursed his lips, then gave a cunning half-smile and looked back to the students.

"Have you not ever heard of a growth spurt?" most kids nodded, satisfied. One yelled out, "But we're too young to have growth spurts!"

"Silly human, I was...er...held back!"

Now everyone seemed satisfied. Dib let out a gasp of breath he had apparently been holding in.

**LATER! AGAIN!**

Dib and Zim were walking out of the classroom, when Dib looked up at him and sighed.

"It's really amazing how completely stupid some humans are."

Zim looked down at him meaningfully.

"Ah, shut up."

"Are we doing more testing today?"

Dib pondered for a moment.

"Nah. I think we're ready for the next step." Zim looked at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you wonder if maybe you could get even _more_ powerful?"

**Yay! Man, I expected to get more jokes in there, but the ones I had just flew from my mind. Flewwww! So, yeah.**

**WHO WANTS TO SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM?**


	35. A Kick in the You Know What

**PLEASE TELL ME!**

**PLEASE TELL ME**

**WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY**

**MY CAR IS IN THE FRONT YARD!**

**AND I'M**

**SLEEPIN' WITH MY CLOTHES ON!**

**CAME IN THROUGH THE WINDOW**

**LAST NIGHT**

**AND YOU'RE**

**GONE! GONE!**

**Sorry, LOVE that song! Anyway, for once, I don't know what I'm going to do with this chapter! I know, right? So, it may be just a filler. I want to drag it out a bit, but by now, I'm almost ready to, y'know...start the **_**descent**_**. I have more flashbacks I need to stick in there before I can REALLY start the decline. **

***sigh* It's so fun to let the series live on through this site.**

**You know what, I'm not going to depress myself by talking about that. This is MUCH too fun to write! Anyway, I think I have a few anonymous people to go through here.**

**Wait... Okay, um, not sure if I replied to some, and Fan Fiction is being REALLY stupid and slow. I KNOW it's not my internet because other websites come up real fast, so, instead I'll jsut do that at the end of the chapter. Maybe it will have loaded in the next half hour.**

**WAIT WAIT! Okay, more stalling. I won't be able to post this for...a while. Fan Fiction is being stupid and my music is skipping, y'know, so that brings out the annoyed middle-aged woman coming home from a long day of work outta me. Sooo... **

**File.**

**Save as.**

**i34**

**Save.**

**Done! Be right back!**

***Later***

**Yay! Okay.**

**SuperH31265: Oh, hey, my friend Ally is from Texas! She moved here...a while... ago... Also, no clue what that is. GOOGLE TO THE RESCUE!**

**'Kay, copy the word. New tab. Click on Google shortcut. Paste. Wikipedia.**

_**The Adventures of Hamtaro (**__**とっとこハム太郎**__**Tottoko Hamutar**__**ō**__**?, literally Trotting Hamtaro) is a Japanese children's storybook series by Ritsuko Kawai. The main character is a brave hamster named Hamtaro who goes on adventures and makes friends. The books include A Home for Hamtaro and Other Stories[1], Hamtaro Gets Lost and Other Stories,[2] and Jealous Hamtaro and Other Stories.[3] VIZ Media publishes the storybooks in English. A toy, Hamusuta the Happy Hamster, which is very similar to the Zhu Zhu Pet was based on this series.**_

**Oooh, okay! Well, I would apparently not have a favorite, but yay for you! Thank you for thinking it's epic!**

**RAH RAH SHISH BOOM BAH: Well, speaking of Ally. Yes, I know who you are, it's not that hard to figure out. HI TODD!**

**Okay, since every COMPLETELY AWESOME (eh? eh?) reviewer was signed in I can stop freaking stalling already and get on to the filler...thing...maybe... I dunno. I'm just gonna wing it.**

Gaz followed behind Zim, mentally _daring_ him to say something. It would have been a good opportunity to kick his ass. Then, she remembered something.

"Hey!" she shouted suddenly. Zim, with his back still turned to her, stopped and answered. "What?"

She kicked him in the back of the head. Caught off guard, he took a face-plant into the Irken dirt, dropping Gir and sending him rolling into the underbrush. It was easy to tell where he was, though because he was beat-boxing and free styling for no apparent reason.

Zim stood up. "What is your damn problem!"

"I still need to kill you for giving me the freaking loopy fruit!"

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad."

"I'M FREAKING PURPLE! Do you expect me to just BE purple without getting revenge? Not to mention, I was Little-Miss-Dumb-and-Giddy! I jumped onto the back of an unknown beast, sang with Gir, willingly stuck my hand into a _fire,_ and even-" she stopped herself before she could mention what _else_ she had done.

"I'm not afraid of you!" Zim chuckled. "But Steve sure was."

"WHY DO YOU KEEP MENTIONING SOME GUY NAMED STEVE? I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO THAT IS!"

"He's your piggy-back partner."

"NAWW, BUT I WANTED TO BE GAZZY'S PIGGY-BACK PARTNER!" Came a shrill voice from the underbrush. They ignored it.

"_I_ do _not_ do piggy-back."

"That's not what you said yesterday!"

Gaz yelled in frustration and ran at him, trying to punch him in the face. He dodged, and with the momentum she couldn't stop, which meant Zim was behind her before she could turn around. He spun, giving her a round-house kick to the side, which knocked her into a tree.

She bounced off, recovered quickly, and found a sudden burst of energy in her state of angry desperation. She punched him several times in the stomach, her hands so fast even Zim, with his mind in fast mode, could barely see them.

He hunched over. Gaz saw the opportunity, grabbed him by the shoulders, and kicked him.

You may be able to guess where.

He fell over to the ground, trying his best to keep silent.

"That," Gaz said darkly. "Was for the fruit."

She grabbed Gir, drop-kicked him in front of her, and started walking away casually, not bothering to wait for Zim to follow behind.


	36. Trash Talk

**Gotta get this done before Glee comes on gotta goooooo!**

**GREENis my fav color: I decided that you're awesome. COOKIE FOR YOU!**

**THAT'S NOT MY NAME: Had that really stuck in your head, huh? Did I just get it back in there? THEY CALL ME HELL, THEY CALL ME STACY, THEY CALL ME HER, THEY CALL ME JANE! How 'bout now? XP (Can I have a taco, too?)**

**SuperH31265: Haha, no homo...heard that somewhere...was it Adult Swim? Hmm. Anyway, I think it was translated. I dunno, I just copy&paste. Yay, you figured out that I'm not married! Cookie for you! (I like cookies.) Also, I get obsessed with various things. Especially anime, but at the moment my biggest obsession is JtHM.**

**Illisandria Carthain: OMG YOU CAN COUNT TO FIVE? LUCKY! Heehee. Kay, I'm gonna reply to those each in turn.**

**1:Yay! I'm a filthy mortal! Woo!**

**2:Awwh, thanks!**

**3:Nah, It's okay, I explode on a daily basis anyway. If you hadn't have given me the fruit, I'd have exploded from something else within five minutes.**

**4:Mmmm, sounds yummers! (I just made that up!)**

**5:I. WILL. YAY!**

**Quel: Stalkers are nice. Remember that. *whisper* So maybe I won't get arrested *cough cough* what? Nothing! Oh, they're gonna get even MORE interesting! Ya know why? 'Cause I just thought and developed a way to make you people suffer through more cliffhangers recently! Yay! Cal can have Steve, I'm pretty sure we're done with him. *Gives Steve to Cal***

**Kay, I think we're done with that. Let's get goin'!**

Zim peered at the back of Gaz's head through narrowed eyes. He watched her walk ahead of him confidently, kicking his robot servant around like a soccer ball, as if Zim had already given her permission. Of course, he hadn't.

He felt a feeling of hate rise up in his chest, then to his throat, trying to persuade him to give a deep growl. He kept silent, thinking, even his mental words dripping with a hateful tone.

How dare she? It was completely unfair. The fruit had been his payback, not just a random prank. She had put him through years of torment, verbally and phisically. He was just getting even. And she had to go and kick his...sensitive area.

Of course, he considered that him winning the battle may have gotten them even anyway, but pushed that possibility out of his mind in the end. The battle was just a way to determine who was stronger. Other than that, it had served no real purpose.

When Gaz kicked the bubble just a little too hard, sending it against the side of a wide-trunked tree, making a sound of stress on the plastic, Zim snapped. He dashed at lightning speed, grabbed Gir, and threw him at Gaz. It hit her in the head. She growled, but before she could start yelling at him, Zim said in a cruel, yet quiet voice, "This. Isn't. Over."

Gaz narrowed her eyes, and threw Gir to the ground so that she could point a menacing finger at her rival.

"Don't get me started! If you would just stop being a retard and _let_ it be over, it would save you a _lot_ of trouble and pain!"

"I don't know what kind of insult this 'retard' is supposed to be." Zim seethed. "But just because you won the battle, doesn't mean you won the war!"

"Quit with the cliches. You just admitted that your little _fight_ that _apparently_ gave you the right to KIDNAP me didn't win the war."

"So what if I did? If we had a final fight, I would probably beat you again!"

"You sayin' you want another fight?"

"Maybe I am. Think you can handle it, little Gaz?"

"I ain't so little no more, buddy."

"You are to me," Zim chuckled. Gaz growled in response.

"Quit with the small talk! We're gonna fight."

"Are we now?"

"Right here, right now, buster."

"Look who's using the cliches now."

"Watch it!"

"Make me," Zim said quietly. They both stood in a battle stance, their hands glowing in their special energy. Gir's cries of peace were ignored.

However, something happened that couldn't be ignored. A loud crashing came in through the trees, and in surprise their energy beams, which made their hands look like they were on fire, faded away. They stopped growling and yelling, and even Gir was silenced, if but for a moment.

They all turned to look at the intruder.

**Dun DUN duuunnnn!**


	37. Deafy Has a Crush

***Jumps in like an awesome ninja* HYAH! WAZZAP?**

**Anyway, aw chiz, you had a cliffhanger. So, I'm going to put off my big project due in two weeks worth fifty percent of my grade JUST FOR YOU! FEEL HONORED! Anonymousness (wow, that's apparently spelled right. And I made it up...) **

**in 3...**

**2...**

**1...**

_**BOOM!**_

**Aw, shit, not again!**

**GRAMMAR POLICE: I don't see anything weird. I did that last week! And yes, you are right. COOKIE FOR JOO!**

**GREENis my fav color: Guess WHAAAT? My birthday is on FRIDAY! WOOOT WOOOOOOT! For reasons I have no need to explain, I will not say how old I am. But YAY! I will update more! Hmm, think I'll do it now! ;P**

Gaz's head snapped to the side as she took in the sight of the intruder. She relaxed when she saw it was just a short, little Irken. Zim looked at her, too, and relaxed.

The Irken was female and was wearing the standard outfit Gaz had designed. The uniform was basically the same, just in black and violet, like her dress and hair. The Irken was laying on her back, her uniform scratched and ripped. She slowly opened her big, pink eyes, and her antennae twitched as she took in her surroundings.

When she saw Gaz, it took her a moment to register the cruel face. After a moment, she jumped up and brushed herself off, which didn't really help at all. She bowed shakily.

"Gaz, my lord." she said, rather loudly. Gaz rolled her eyes.

"I know who I am. Der."

The Irken looked up slowly, and her eyes rested on Zim and widened. He was looking back at her, an eyebrow raised curiously. She brushed herself off more and smiled.

"Hi," she said in a rather weird way.

"Hello." he said. He kept looking at her warily. She smiled a little wider.

Gaz looked at her. What the hell...?

"Riiight." she said. "Well, we're leaving now." Unconsciously, she grabbed Zim's arm and dragged him away. He made sounds of protest, but she didn't listen.

"Wait!" the Irken girl shouted after them. Gaz grunted in annoyance, but stopped anyway.

"What?"

"If it's all the same to you, my lord," she said, bowing again. "Would you mind if I maybe...traveled with you?"

"And what reason do you have that I should let you do that?"

"Well..." she paused.

"Exactly."

"Wait! Please? You won't even know I'm here! I'll gather food for you! I won't talk within earshot of you!"

Gaz made a disgusted face. "Ugh. Fine. But once we're at the edge of the forest, you are _gone._ I don't know _who_ you are, and frankly I don't care."

"I'm-"

"I _said,_ deafy, I don't _care_."

"Yes, my lord."

"That's what I'm gonna call you now. Deafy."

"Yes, my lord."

"Gaz?" Zim interrupted.

"What?"

"You can let go of my arm now." She blushed furiously and threw his arm out of her grasp. "Go find us some water and food, Deafy. And don't even _think_ of giving me any loopy fruit."

"Loopy...fruit?"

"Yes! See, this is why I call you Deafy. Get with the program, kid." Gaz sat on a rock. Gir rolled up to Deafy.

"I like you."

"Aww! Defective SIR unit! They're always so cute!" she kneeled down by Gir and examined the bubble he was in.

"Is this you're invention, my lord?"

"No. I'd actually prefer if he wasn't here at all. See Mr. Long, Tall, and Hairy over there about that." Gaz said, referring to his unnatural height and hair. Deafy looked up at him and quickly looked away, her face turning a darker shade of green. Gaz rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of Pink Eye over there, why don't you take him with you?"

Deafy's eyes grew wider. "Why?"

"I'm sick of lookin' at him. I'll keep the bucket of bolts over here to entertain myself. Maybe bounce him against a tree for a while."

Nobody moved for a moment.

"GO!"

Zim rolled his eyes and started walking away, gesturing for Deafy to follow. She bit her lip and smiled, walking along eagerly behind him. Gir stupidly rolled over to Gaz and stretched out his arms.

"I'm gonna hug you!"

"Good luck with that." 'Stupid,' she muttered. Gir bumped against the side of the bubble, but that didn't stop him. He kept at it. Gaz picked him up and threw him against a tree, catching him on the rebound, wondering what the heck Deafy was doing in the forest, and why she acted so wierd around Zim.

Somehow, she knew the answer. And, although she wouldn't admit it to herself, she didn't like it.


	38. Kama as in Comma

**Why do my animal cookies taste mint? *shrug* Well, since I just updated there are no anonymous people! Yeah, a few signed in, but I reply to them privately. Soooo... HERE WE GO! (I'm not going to do the 321 thing again for fear I may blow up something important)**

Zim led the way in front of 'Deafy,' as Gaz had called her. His unnaturally keen sense of smell led him along the trail where he knew there may be some wild vegetables and some small rodents.

"So," he said after a minute of silent walking. "I'm guessing your name isn't Deafy."

"No," she said after a moment. "It's Kamaletanga. But you can call me Kama."

"Alright then." Zim wasn't one to be all that polite, but he couldn't stand the awkward silence, so he said, "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I was about to ask the same thing."

"Er...you first."

"Okay... Well, do you promise not to tell Lord Gaz?"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't tell her if the forest was on fire... That would be quite funny, wouldn't it?"

He suddenly realized that they had resorted to their own foreign language.

"You know Irken? I thought Gaz made the universal language English."

"See, that's the thing. I took an underground Irken language class. Some people try to preserve our culture without Lord Gaz knowing.

"Well, I was kind of stupid and got caught speaking it, so I got banished. I couldn't find a ship to use to get off of the planet, so I panicked and took refuge in the forest."

Kama looked down at her uniform. "I guess that wasn't the _best_ idea I've ever had."

"Well, I would suppose not." There was a moment of silence.

"Can I just say you are the _tallest_ Irken I have _ever_ seen?"

"Well that's very kind of you to say."

"Not at all, it's the truth."

For an Irken, that was the greatest of compliments.

"We're nearly there." Zim said suddenly.

"Nearly where?"

In response, he pushed aside some leaves and let Kama pass through. She blushed and tried to hide it, but with Zim's keen sight, he saw it easily. He looked at her curiously, but just decided to let it go.

Kama gasped as she took in the scene. There was a small, glittering waterfall, surrounded by low-hanging branches full of fruit and the small rabbit-like creatures.

"Amazing," she said quietly. Zim nodded slightly in agreement. Kama manually opened her dysfunctional PAK and took out a small canteen. She went to the waterfall and started filling it with Irken water. Zim went around in super-speed, catching three of the small animals and killing them quickly.

Kama turned and almost dropped her canteen, but caught it in time.

"What... how did you...?"

"How did I what?" Zim replied, holding the dead animals in one hand while picking fruit with the other, being sure to avoid the purple ones.

"How did you catch them? They move so fast!"

"I guess I have a way with animals."

"Poor things had no clue you were going to eat 'em, huh?"

"Heh, yeah." he looked at the sky and quickly calculated how long they had been there. "We'd better get back. 'Lord' Gaz will be getting angry about now." he said her title mockingly.

"Why do you treat her like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like she's a _nobody?_ She's the overlord of the _universe!_"

"Yeah, well, she's not the overlord of _me,_ that's for sure."

"How is it possible that you can be so free?"

"Simple." he started walking out of the small area, Kama following behind.

"I just live by my own rules."

**I was going to post this **_**before**_** school, but then I had to leave so I didn't have time to edit it. So, here it is, six hours later than it would've been! Yay! Also, is Kama a word? My internet-spell-checker thing says it's not spelled wrong...**


	39. Oh Gaz, We All Know You're Jealous

**Oh, my love **

**Please don't cry **

**I'll wash my bloody hands and **

**We'll start a new life **

**I don't know much at all **

**I don't know wrong from right **

**All I know is that I love you tonight!**

**Awesome song.**

**Um...heh... Googled Kama. **

_**K**__**āma (Sanskrit, Pali; Devanagari: **__**काम**__**) is translated from Sanskrit as pleasure, sensual gratification, sexual fulfillment, pleasure of the senses, desire, eros, or the aesthetic **__**enjoyment of life.**_

**Yeaahhh... Try to forget that. Heh. Sooo... to get **_**that**_** outta your mind, let's, err, see if there's any anonymous reviewers, shall we?**

**4 MINUTES TO SAVE THE WORLD: Pedro says that that would be anybody's biggest nightmare. Mmhmm.**

***pause***

**WAKA LAKA'S A THING TO PLAY FOREVER**

**JUST TO BE TOGETHER (JUST TO BE TOGETHER)**

**WAKA LAKA'S A PLACE TO BE FOREVER!**

**WAKA LAKA LOVE AND FANTASY!**

**Kay. That was fun. Bye.**

**sighs: Heeyy... You're the same person! Kay. Thanks for reviewing! Twice! In a row!**

**CrazyGirlQuel: I think you may have reviewed several times (tis the power of anonymousness) sooo let's see here...**

**COOKIEEESSS!**

**Jealousness. Yeah.**

**SAY HI TO TEWWEDLE-DEE AND TWEEDLE-DUM FOR ME! AND TRY TO PULL OFF A CITIZENS ARREST FOR THE CHESHIRE CAT, HE'S A PEDOPHILE!**

**THANK YOU! BIRTHDAYS BE FUN.**

**AnimalGirl: Yeah, it's got, heh, **_**several**_** meanings.**

**Kay, real quick, not sure if I can add links to YouTube here. I'll see.**

**.com/watch?v=BX8DfxQw_Sc  
**

**Click! Or copy&paste! DO SOMETHING!**

By the time Zim and Kama were walking back, talking about nothing in particular, Gaz had been pacing back and forth, pausing every now and again to kick Gir against a large rock. When she heard leaves rustling, she threw a small rock she had been holding in her clenched fists. It hit Zim in the head and made a loud _bonk._

Kama looked up at him worriedly, wondering if he might be hurt, for Gaz had thrown it hard enough to knock someone unconscious.

He seemed completely unharmed. Not even a scratch. Kama sighed and bit her lip dreamily.

Gaz tried to ignore Kama's expression as she glared at Zim.

"Took ya long enough!"

"We were only gone for fifteen minutes! Twenty at the most!"

"Yeah, but I'm starving here!"

"You seemed to be doing just fine when you went way longer without food than you probably usually do, 'your highness,'" he said the title sarcastically.

"Don't talk to me like that!"

"Why not? I'm not afraid of you! I _won,_ remember?"

"Won? Won what?" Kama said, but she couldn't be heard over the yelling.

"Beginner's luck!"

"Beginner? I've been training for _years!_ I've fought with the best! AND WON!"

"Is that the _only_ thing that matters to you? Winning?"

"It seems to be the only thing that matters to _you!_"

"WELL IT'S NOT, OKAY?" Gaz yelled quite loudly. They both stopped and looked at each other strangely for a moment, then glared. Gaz felt her cheeks grow warm, and vaguely wondered if they were turning dark purple, for they most likely wouldn't be turning pink.

She growled, spun on her heel, and stomped away, forgetting about her growling stomach.

"Who does he think he is, treating me like that?" she muttered. "I'm the freaking queen of the world. LITERALLY! Him and his stupid little... everything! And what the hell is with Deafy? Treating him like he's some sort of beautiful godlike figure or something... WHICH HE IS SO NOT!" she added quickly.

"She should be treating ME like that. Not so lovey dovey, but you get the point! Who am I even talking to? The freaking trees? That fruit must still be in my system or something."

At least she hoped it was.

"Hmmm..." she stopped for a second and looked around, her hand under her chin in a pondering sort of way.

"Trees... seems to be a lot around here. Well..."

She rose her hands up in front of her, watching the black sparks jump from finger to finger. She gave it a little more power and the sparks turned to flames.

"Since Mr. Popular over there won't get it through his thick head that I'm clearly way better than him, maybe I should do a little training of my own, eh?"

She slid into a steady stance, one foot behind the other, knees bent, hands at the ready. When she felt that she had given the flames enough power, she shot a nearby tree. Then another. Then all of them.

In the midst of it all, she found herself smiling, and no matter how much she tried to wipe it off her face, she couldn't suppress it. Soon, she had eliminated all the trees within thirty feet. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding and looked around proudly.

Then, she saw something behind a few trees and went to check it out.

"Hmm." she said, looking around at her discovery.

"Interesting."


	40. Not Quite a Story

**Must... write... more... even... though... it's... one... in.. .the.. .morning... and... I... have... church...**

***later note: I actually stopped after the regret part and resumed after church. G'night! In a way!***

**Ah, well. Anyway, here...weee...GOOOO!**

Zim watched Gaz leave, shaking his head slightly.

"Does that happen a lot?" Kama said after a moment.

"Seems like it." Zim sighed.

Suddenly, Kama giggled a little. Zim looked back at her.

"What?"

"Did... are you the one who made her purple?"

Zim gave the slightest grin.

"Yeah."

He blinked and looked at the food in their arms.

"Well, better go find Gaz and let her have a share before Gir takes it."

Kama nodded. They walked forward slowly, not bothering to rush. Gaz would need a bit of alone time, otherwise they would probably regret getting there so early. It was silent for a while.

Zim looked back at Kama and she seemed to have an uncomfortably curious expression.

"You okay?" he asked in Irken.

"Well..." she replied in the same language. "I just...um..." He looked at her expectantly.

"I'm just going to come right out with this. Are you guys... y'know..."

"What?"

"Together?"

He stopped in his tracks and blinked. Then he started to laugh. He tried to cover it at first, but soon it came out loud and strong. He doubled over, struggling to keep the fruit and dead creatures in his arms. He laughed so hard that tears came out of his eyes.

Kama laughed too, but not as hard. "So I'm guessing that's a no?"

"No? More...like ab...solutely...NOT!" He said in between laughs.

Once he had calmed down quite a bit, he asked, "What in the world would make you think THAT?"

"Erm...nothing." she said, smiling.

"Come on. We'd better keep going." he started walking along, Kama following eagerly. Soon, they came to a clearing. Zim smelled the slightest traces of smoke, and guessed it wasn't a natural clearing. A glance at the charred remains of trees on the ground confirmed his suspicion.

He saw something in between some trees at the other end, then a flash of purple. Gaz was over there.

"Come on, she's over there." he said.

"Over there? How can you tell?"

Zim remembered how his sight must've been much better than hers. Especially since the sun was going down and it was starting to get a bit dark. He walked forward and through the trees, ignoring Kama's question. He pushed aside some leaves and walked out into a big space. Kama gasped behind him.

Gaz was standing with her back to them. There was a giant hole in the middle of the earth which made two cliffs, and she was standing on the edge of the one on their side. Way down below was a wide river, running over rocks and flowing off into the distance. Zim had a feeling that that was where the water in the waterfall came from.

Nearby there were some fruit trees and a nice cave that branched off into three different little rooms. Perfect.

Gaz turned and frowned when she saw them.

"'Bout time you got here." she was clearly still mad, but had cooled off quite a bit. She walked up to Zim, took some of the fruit in his arms, and walked away into the cave.

"Going to sleep. If you enjoy having limbs still attached to your body, I'd suggest that you don't disturb me."

She disappeared into the darkness of one of the little rooms.

Zim shrugged and went to the trees. He broke off a few branches and quickly made a fire, Kama watching intently the whole time. He cooked some of the small creatures and left one out on a flat rock with some fruit to give to Gir later, once he found his way back to them.

He sat on the edge of the cliff and Kama shyly went over to join him. They ate in silence for a while, looking out over the river and at the stars that were just beginning to appear. When they finished, Zim wiped his mouth with his glove and sat back. Kama looked at him for a moment.

"Hey," she said quietly. "You never did answer my question."

"What question?"

"What are you guys doing in these woods?"

"Er... long story."

"I have time."

He looked over at her and studied her quickly. Her curly antennae twitched eagerly and curiously. She seemed to be hoping with all her might that he would tell her anything she wanted to know.

"I'm not sure if I can trust you."

Her antennae drooped a bit.

"Why?"

"I don't think I can trust anybody at the moment."

She sighed sadly. "Oh, the things you must've been through."

"Hmm...yeah..." he paused, thinking for the first time in a long time that he certainly _had_ been through a lot.

"Can you tell me at least one bit of the story? I promise, I'll earn your trust soon."

"Hmmm... You know, I saw tallests Red and Purple die. I was there."

Her eyes widened. "You mean... from 1,000 years ago? How is that even-"

"You'll have to earn my trust before I can answer that." he said, smiling ever so slightly. He stood up and went into the cave, to the room furthest from Gaz, who was snoring loudly. He layed down and thought about that day. That horrible, horrible day.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Kama sat on the cliff, looking at the romantically full moon, wondering who this guy was. If he was there 1,000 years ago...

She sighed as she wished she had payed attention while they were teaching her history in school.


	41. Flashback 6

**Couldn't resist. Getting fun...er! Soo... FLASHBACK TIME!**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

Gaz stood in her throne room, her back to the door, as the most recent intruder was pleading his case. She shook her head.

This one, like all of the others, had been easy for even her low-ranking guards to catch. Pathetic.

When he paused, she turned towards him. She looked at his gory, disfigured face, not showing any emotion, although on the inside she was positively disgusted.

They were always this badly beaten up, since they were so terrible about defending themselves. She had almost all of the planets taken over, being 500 years into her immortality. Several more to go.

The intruder looked back at her, scared at first, then defiantly.

"They'll... get you for this."

Gaz smirked slightly.

"I'd like to see them try."

She lit her hand with black energy, and the guards who had the intruder, who was blue with tentacles and six eyes, backed away quickly. Before the intruder, who was, no doubt, from the Resisty, knew what was happening, Gaz swept her hand to the side gracefully and the intruder was dead.

"What shall we do with this one, lord Gaz?" the one on the left said.

"Hmm... how about food for the wild pigs? They get hungry if you don't feed them for three days, it seems."

They bowed quickly and dragged the dead body behind them, with no feelings of regret or sadness.

Those went away long ago.

Gaz sighed and shook her head. Suddenly, she saw a flash of something in her mind. Something green, was it? Green and bright. She felt a pang of...something, like she always did when this happened. It had been happening a lot recently.

She shrugged. She had no clue why this was happening. Maybe she was just going insane. She didn't really care. Since she was immortal, she knew it didn't mean she was dying, so she was fine with it.

She heard a bell somewhere in the distance.

"Ooh, lunch!"

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

About 500 years later, she did the same thing. Generation after generation had been infiltrating her castle, getting closer and closer to their target each time. Yet, they had always been far away from it. Sad.

This time, it was a small Irken girl. The guards usually took it easier on females, so she was only soaked in her own blood instead of disfigured.

"We WILL take you down, Gaz! You and your whole empire of... doom!"

"Good luck with that one."

"We may be far away, but we're getting closer and closer! We WILL reach our target, we WILL defeat you, we WILL end your immortality! And there is NOTHING you can do to stop us. Only to postpone the inevitable."

"Aww," Gaz clapped sarcastically. "That was a _great_ death speech. Anything else before you're, y'know, dead?"

The girl smiled. "We have a psychic on our side."

"Yeah, so? You have a wacko who thinks they can see the future. Your point?"

"_He_ will return. And he will defeat you."

"He? He who?"

"You'll see within five years."

"I don't wanna wait five years! Tell me! _NOW."_

"We don't know the name. Just that he will return. And-"

"Defeat me? Yeah, we've been over that." Gaz reached back, her hand lit with black fire. She gave a little wave with the other one.

"Bye-bye!"

She tossed her arm forward, and it was over.

She turned her back to the guards and waved them off, telling them to do whatever they wanted with the body. She thought. And thought.

_He?_

She saw another bright flash of green, this time with a bit of pink.

No. Couldn't be.

She dismissed the thought and went to bed early. She dreamed of the girl's words, accompanied by flashes of green and pink.

_He will return._


	42. Hey, Look, It's a Trap!

**Doo dee doo.**

**GREENis my fav color: TRACK! PAD! THING! I... AM NOT GOOD AT MOTIVATING LAPTOP PARTS! And, er, do I want to know about the lama spit? Just... er... yeah.**

**Nopictureavailable: Haha. Buurrnn. Since I know you also went under the name blah, not gonna waste valuable A/N space (I know, since when have I cared about that?) Well, from now on, I'll try to shorten these a little bit for a reviewer who is annoyed by them. So, less personal stuff and more just replying. Also, as I said before, not a fan of Botox, so I will not be updating my face. XP**

**Quellyshebe: *pause* 0.0 *longer pause* *wait for it...***

**...**

**...**

**...**

***bursts out laughing for like five minutes. this really happened when i read that review***

**(in between laughs) Hah! Cliff...hanger! 'Cause...she's...on a... cliff! And... ha!**

**: Random teenage girl: Daraamaaaa!**

**Me: HEY! I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF HERE! *I beat her back with a broom***

**So glad you likeses! And yes, you are quite entertaining!**

Gaz ate in the cave, using her sensitive hearing to listen in on Zim and Deafy's conversation. She still didn't know that girl's name, and frankly, she didn't care. After a moment, she thought about what they might think about her eavesdropping.

Just then, Gir sneaked in quietly and looked at her. Although his computerized mind was usually fogged over with nonsense, for this short little moment, he actually knew what was going on. He stared at her expectantly.

"I'm not eavesdropping," Gaz said quietly and defiantly. "It's not _my_ fault that they're talking so loud."

Although she knew that she could probably block them out if she wanted to. She pushed that thought to the back of her mind and it was replaced by a flash of anger. Why did he have to go and spill all this information? Telling her that he was there 1,000 years ago!

Gaz, of course, was famous for being immortal. Apparently, this idiotic girl hadn't payed very good attention in history class.

Gir's moment of understanding passed as he took in a big breath to yell. Gaz recoiled. If he gave it away that she was listening...

Gir's breath turned into a yawn and he dropped down with a loud _thud_ and fell asleep. Gaz let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in and went to lay down herself. Gir was snoring loudly. She felt Zim's presence as he walked to the room at the other end of the cave. He probably thought it was _her_ snoring. She rolled her eyes and silently drifted off to sleep.  
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Gaz woke up early in the morning, stepped around the sleeping Gir, and peeked in the other rooms. She saw that Deafy was sleeping peacefully in her little area. _Probably dreaming about Mr. Popular._ She thought angrily. She also saw that Zim's area was empty.

She ducked out of the cave and saw that he was sitting in a tree, eating a fruit, and trying to see if he could drop others fast enough to hit a small animal trapped between two rocks and a stick.

"What _are_ you doing?"

"Trying to see if I can hit that animal."

"Why?"

"Everyone around here just SLEEPS and SLEEPS. Irkens get bored, too."

Gaz rolled her eyes.

"Just get your ass down here so I can yell at you."

He sighed. "What did I do this time?"

"Well, for starters, you were _born_."

"Well that was unnecessary."

"Also, you had to go telling some random passerby your whole life story."

"You were eavesdropping?"

Gaz blushed. "No. You idiots were just so loud that it was hard to sleep."

"That's not what the snoring suggested."

"That was Gir, dumb ass."

"I'll never understand why robots can snore..."

"Just freaking get down here. We need to keep going. I'm sick of this disgusting little forest." She grimaced as she looked at the, er, 'pellets' on the bottom of her boot. She wiped them off in the grass and Zim chuckled. He got down from the tree and went to the cave.

"Where are you going?"

"Waking up Kama."

"Who?"

"Er, Deafy, was it?"

"Oh. Hm. Well, I'm not waiting."

She started walking, knowing that they would probably catch up anyway. She weaved in and out of the trees, determined to get out of that forest as soon as possible. Suddenly, she felt herself slipping.

She probably could have gotten out of it, except she was distracted and had no clue what was going on, so before she knew it, she was in a deep hole, looking up at the treetops through the narrow opening.

She felt anger rise up inside her.

"SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!"


	43. HUMILIATION!

**Right smack-dab in the middle of a big project. Since I have a week to do all the pages I have left, I thought I'd take a short writing break! No, not break from writing...well... you know what I mean...**

**GREENis my fav color: Well **_**I**_** sure didn't know! Hmm... that reminds me about one time when I was little my mom, sister and I were driving and there was a slow car in front of mom and she yelled, "GET OUTTA THE WAY, YA OLD FART!" *Sigh* good times.**

**Quel: Hi, Steve! Hi, Cal! Hi, Quel! XD Ooh, cookies! *nom nom nom* Mm, good cookie.**

After Zim got Kama to wake up, they walked along the path of broken twigs and crushed leaves that showed Gaz had definitely been stomping around there. Kama walked alongside Zim, staring up at him, and looking away quickly when he looked down.

Suddenly, they heard a loud cry.

"SHIIIIIIT!" It was definitely Gaz. Zim started to run, but stopped when he heard a gasp behind him. Kama, in that short time of trying to catch up to him, was completely out of breath and way behind him.

"How... do you run... so fast?" she said in between pants. Zim just shook his head and instinctively threw her on his back, then ran. He felt her arms cling around his neck for dear life and felt extremely glad he was almost indestructible now, or she'd have choked him to death for sure.

Kama felt her cheeks grow warm and she smiled dreamily, momentarily unaware of the danger they were most likely in at the moment.

Within 30 seconds, they skidded to a stop at the edge of a hole. Zim let Kama slide off his back, and stared wide-eyed at the scene before him. Then, as Kama looked horrified, he started laughing so hard tears came out of his eyes.

Gaz was suspended in mid-air by ropes tied to her wrists and ankles. She scowled intensely as her cheeks flared up.

"How... how... ha!" Zim couldn't even get out a sentence. Kama just stared on in horror for a moment, then said, "Gaz, my lord! How did this happen?" She looked around to see if there was a way to help, but the ropes were up much too high.

Zim calmed himself down forcefully. "Yeah...Gaz. How... how DID this happen?" he said in between giggles.

"Stop giggling like a school girl and help me."

"Can't... you get down by..heh... yourself?"

"Well I'd rather not be mauled by those spikes down there." Zim looked down in the hole and saw that there were sharp wooden spikes, sharp enough even to cut into their tough skin.

"I fell in that hole, which was completely hidden, by the way, Giggles." Gaz added. "Then before I knew what was happening, I was up here."

Suddenly, the bushes behind her rustled noisily and short Irkens walked out. Zim was surprised to see that they were clothed in leaves, grass, and feathers. Gaz grunted in annoyance.

"Who keeps putting these freaking PEOPLE in the FOREST?"

"Hmm..." Zim pondered something for a moment. He cautiously walked up to one of the people, who was dressed the most colorfully, probably the leader of the others. He spoke to him in Irken, and was glad to see that the leader understood and spoke back.

Zim nodded while listening, then raised a brow as if he didn't believe something the leader had just said.

"What?" Gaz said impatiently.

"He says that he set the trap for food and that at first you didn't land on the spikes because they didn't put those in until after you were caught by their ropes."

"Can you tell him to let me out?"

"Well, he said he wasn't willing to because..." he trailed off, then started laughing again.

"WHAT?"

"He... he said you... were a p...prize to his... village because you are so... soo..."

"What! Out with it!"

"BEAUTIFUL!" He burst out in heavier laughter. "AS IF!" He managed to say. Gaz scowled.

"Enough with this shit." she let a burst of her black flames run from her wrists and ankles to the ends of the ropes and started falling. She took hold of the rim of the hole, swung her feet into the wall of dirt, then turned over, doing a complete flip with her hands on the edge of the hole and her feet in the air. She landed on her feet by the rim of the hole, her arms crossed.

The villagers seemed mystified. They all got down on their knees and bowed to her. Kama joined them. Zim just laughed even harder.

"Shut it, Giggles, before I make you." Zim calmed down, wiped a tear from his cheek, and rolled his eyes. He stood up and asked something to the leader in Irken. The leader nodded eagerly, then started walking away, gesturing for them to follow.

"What?" Gaz said.

"We're going to their village."

"And WHY are we doing that, exactly?"

"Maybe they know their way around this forest. They can probably lead us out."

Gaz let her arms fall to her sides and walked after the villagers, head held high, refusing to lose her dignity.

Zim tried to hold in his laughter. Kama followed after them happily.

Yet another surprise to deal with.


	44. That Annoying Little Voice

**OMG! JUST GOT MY 200TH REVIEW! CELEBRATE!**

***Streamers, punch bowls, candy, the whole deal***

**WOOO!**

**rolls eyes: Wow. You have a pulley?**

**GREENis my fav color: yum yum yum! Hmmm... anybody else feel sorry for Gaz? I know I do! (Maybe. Not sure. And I'm the author. Wooww.)**

**JustIncaseYouDidntKnowImCrazy: You can't stop laughing because HE can't stop laughing! It's contagious. HA! CLIFFHANGER! CLASSIC! Yay! Stalking! Also, Oopmaloompas scare me. There were girls practicing dances for the Willy Wonka thing at school and they were dancing creepily to the Oppa-Loompa-Doo-Ba-Dee-Doo song. As I walked away, I couldn't help but whisper to myself, "I'm scared."**

Gaz walked behind the villagers, head held high, refusing to lose her dignity. They weaved in and out, through the trees. Once she heard a rustling and looked back to see that Kama had tripped on a branch and Zim was helping her up. She was blushing and smiling dreamily. Gaz narrowed her eyes and snapped her head forward again, telling herself that she didn't care.

They kept walking until they came to a large clearing with houses made expertly from branches, mud, and huge leaves. The villagers shyly watched them walk in from the sidelines. One of the smaller children slipped away from their mother, who was crying, "Mechledeck! Gadza, Gadza!" The child ignored her and ran up to Kama, laughing and smiling.

She smiled back, patted him on the head, and gently nudged him back in the direction of his mother. She smiled gratefully at her. Gaz snorted.

They came to a large fire in the middle of the village. The leader clapped his hands, yelled something, and other villagers ran up and offered the visitors food, which they had apparently prepared quickly. Gaz hungrily grabbed some and wolfed it down. The villager who had given it to her stared at her, pink eyes wide.

"What?" She said, her voice muffled by food. The villager just bowed hastily and left. Gaz shrugged and swallowed her mouthful.

Zim was talking to the leader, nodding and putting in a few words every now and again. When they paused, Gaz inserted herself into the conversation.

"So, what're we talkin' about, huh?"

Zim looked at her. She looked right back. He sighed.

"He was telling me why he and his tribe are in the forest." He paused and looked at her like he wanted her to go away.

Of course, she didn't.

"Aaaannnnd?"

He sighed again. "Fine. He says that his tribe started when a group of Irkens were banned by Tallests long ago. They repopulated, created their own cultures, religions, communities. They live out in the wild, depending on nature, unlike the Irkens who depend on technology." He shrugged. "Not what I would have chosen, but whatever."

"So, can they get us out of this forest?"

"Yes, but they _insist_ that we stay for a special ritual later. They wouldn't tell me what it was, though."

"Uuuuggghh! I just want this nightmare to be OVER already! I don't even remember how I GOT here anymore." She stood up and stomped away. She walked a little ways away from the village and leaned against a tree, her head down.

That stupid little crap! It's almost like he _wanted_ to be stuck in this forest!

_'Nooo, he wants to be stuck in this forest with YOU, silly-head!'_

"GAH!" Gaz shouted and fell in her confusion.

"WHO'S THERE?"

_'Nobody!'_ she heard in the same voice as before. She suddenly realized that it was a more cheery version of _hers._ Not only that, but it was _coming from her head!_

"What the hell...?"

_'Ah ah ahh! No bad words missy!'_

"What's going on?" She said, standing up.

_'Nothing really,' _the voice replied. _'I guess I'm just a figment of your imagination. I must be a remnant of the happy fruit!'_

"Oh, God."

_'Either way, I have a feeling that I'll wear off soon enough.'_

"How can you feel anything?"

_'Never mind THAT! The important thing is how_ YOU_ feel.'_

"Feel? What are you, from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse?"

_'Mikey Who's What?'_

"Is it weird that I know, and you don't, even though you're inside my-"

_'Head? Yeah probably.'_ The voice interrupted.

_'Anywhoo, the important thing is that you learn to express your feelings!'_

"Umm... what?"

_'Let's just say that I'm your denial talking.'_

"I thought you were the fruit."

_'I'm both!'_

"Huh?"

_'Wow, you're almost as clueless as ME! Teehee!'_

Gaz scowled.

"Look, I don't know what's going on here, but if you could just GO AWAY, that'd be fantabulous. Wait, did I just say..."

The voice giggled. _'Yup! That was my bad. Sorry. I'll go away as soon as I tell you that... Uh, oh.'_

"What?"

_'I can feel myself slipping away...'_

"Thank God."

_'Just remember!'_ The voice was getting fainter. Just before it faded away, Gaz could hear one last thing:

_**'Don't try to deny what is meant to beeee!' **_And it was gone.

"'Kay..." Gaz said slowly. "I am now 100% insane. Greeaaat"

She slowly made her way back to the village, pushing the voice's words out of her mind and hoping that she was still sane enough to continue her rule over her empire once she finally got out of that hellhole.


	45. Flashback 7, PI

**Okay, just a little thing here before I go to the anonymous reviews. I was thinking, y'know, maybe... er...**

**Alright, I'll just get out with it. I'm weird (I know, "No duh," but I'm not finished yet) and I like to plan out some of the events of my stories by listening to songs on the radio and on my MP3 and imagining the characters singing them. Soo, I came up with the idea of Zim and Gaz singing a duet for the ritual the villagers have planned.**

**So, how about this: You vote. Just say yes or no, you know I wouldn't care if it was anonymous or not. If you say yes, tell me an idea for the song. I already know what I want to do, but if someone were to come up with a better idea, then there we go! I'll wait until I have at least 5 votes to write the next chapter.**

**Until then, let's enjoy some review replies and a nice flashback!**

**Dark Skitty Power: I ALSO ENJOY CAPS LOCK! YAY DENIAL!**

**Haha, okay, I'mma post this one for EVERYONE'S enjoyment!**

**Suck it up Gaz:...Epic...**

**WafflesofDoom43: I see you posted... several! Sooo... I will reply to all that I can!**

**1. You gotz a lotta checkin' up ta do.**

**2. I'm glad!**

**3. LMAO to you too!**

**4. Yes. Yes I am. And, yes. Yes he is.**

**5. She got her revenge... and he will get his! Woo! Awesome songs abound! I like My Bloody Valentine by Good Charlotte! One of my current fave songs!**

**6. Lions and Tigers and Bears!**

**7. Yes. Yes she is.**

**8. Mary Sue... since I do not get what that is... Thank you! XD**

**9. I love that video. Hmmm...**

**10. I know, I love to just LAUGH like a MANIAC. Hmm... Maniac. Reminds me of somethin' awesome.**

**11. Yes!**

**12. Why thank you! ^.^**

**Well, there you go. Hmm... it's like the 12 days of Christmas! **

_**On the first day of Christmas, **_

_**I said to a reviewer:**_

_**You gotz a lotta checkin' uup ta dooo!**_

**Best. Song. Ever.**

**YouShouldProbablyKnowAlready: Omg. I didn't realize that. People reading this. This awesome and insane person and his/her friend realized that both Gaz AND Dib are now both TOTALLY INSANE. You know what, you get ten cookies and a waffle for your awesomeness! You ALSO get a hug from your favorite character 'cause they have to do anything I tell them to! Mwuahahahahaaaa!**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

Zim followed Dib into the forest, wondering why they were there.

"Hey!" he said loudly.

"What?" The paranormal investigator, if you could call him that, replied.

"Why are we here?"

"Just gonna try something!"

"What?"

"You'll see!"

They came to a very small clearing and Dib stopepd and turned around. Suddenly, he found a rock and threw it at Zim's head. It hit him, and although it didn't hurt, he growled.

"WHAT THE-"

"You freaking SUCK, Zim! Ha! You could never take over the Earth!" Zim felt himself start to glow, as he did when he got mad.

"What the HELL is WRONG WITH YOU? OTHER THAN BEING HUMAN, OF COURSE!"

"Well it's WAAY better than being... whatever the heck YOU'RE supposed to be!"

Zim began to glow brighter. They continued this back-and-forth argument for a while, and Zim's glow grew brighter with every insult, until his skin was almost blinding. Dib's eyes hurt, but he kept on. Soon, he went too far.

"You're _weak,_ Zim! Always have been. Always will be." DIb's words echoed in Zim's head, along with all of the rest of his insults. The loudest of them, was the word _weak._

Suddenly, something inside him took over. He clutched his head and crouched on the ground. He gave an involuntary and ferocious roar, like a lion.

Everything blurred. First his vision, then his thoughts, until he might as well have been unconscious. When he came to, his clothes were ripped, and his gloves, which were prototypes for an invention of Dib's, were almost burnt to a crisp, partially revealing his alien-like claws. He looked around, not noticing that his invader's uniform was fixing itself, and realized that all the trees within his sight had no more leaves, the nearest ones barely had trunks.

He looked in front of him and saw that Dib had some sort of bubble around him, protecting him from the blast, though he still got dragged back a few yards.

"Whoa," he said, standing up and retracting the shield. He took out a notebook and a pen and wrote a few things down.

"What was all that crap?" Zim said angrily.

"Nothing, really. Just testing to see how powerful your anger can REALLY make you. Wow, you should have seen the explosion! And that crazy look in your eyes! I'm probably gonna have nightmares!" he said joyfully.

Zim was about to yell at him for using him like that, when he heard something that made his antennae prick up under his hair.

Without waiting for Dib, he sped off in the direction of what he heard. It was a familiar voice. He looked above the trees and saw smoke rising in the distance.

He skidded to a stop and stared, wide-eyed, at a sight he thought he would never see, in all his days.

Not even since he was now immortal.


	46. Flashback 7, PII

_**IF YOU LIKE TO VOTE, READ!**_

**Kay, so, I got a ton of reviews today and only like 3 or 4 voted for what I was talking about. That tells me that nobody reads this! Which is perfectly fine by me! Just this once, though, I need someone's opinion. I have 1 no and 3 yes'. Kay, anyway, to anonymousness. BTW, next chapter won't come up until I get two more votes!**

**Blerp: It's a really competitive song, actually. I quite like it. So that would be one no, got it!**

**Yes: Yay! He's gonna be tortured! By you! Anyway, wedding song? 0.0 Making progress in their relationship, are they? XD Okay, so that would be one yes! And you are welcome for the cookies. XD (If you haven't noticed, I quite like that smiley)**

**IJustRealizedSomething: You are welcome for my cookies!**

**SuperH31265: I am glad to know you are alive! Have fun with the loopy gas!**

**Pleasepleasepleasepleeeaaaas: I am! XD**

**Also, so sorry, this would have been posted much sooner but I had something important that came up.**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go. This is one of those times.**

Dib tried to run after Zim, but knew he could never be fast enough. He had tested Zim's speed several times and he just kept getting faster, even now. He leaned against a tree, taking deep breaths, hoping that everything was okay.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

He, however, did not see what Zim was seeing. To him, it was definitely _not_ okay.

There was a fallen tree where the escape pod had hit. There was a bit of blood hidden under the rising smoke and bits of metal. Zim stared, stunned and speechless, at his two former leaders, half crushed under the wreckage and blinking, clearly feeling shock, pain, and sadness at the same time. Also a hint of rage, but not enough to allow them to get up.

_Former..._ Zim had never thought about that before. He certainly hadn't called them in quite a while. He hadn't even been _thinking_ about his mission of world domination since his newfound powers had been discovered. He stood and stared, unable to do anything. Then Tallest Purple started to speak.

"Z...Zim? Is that really... you?"

"Sh...shit..." Tallest Red muttered. "I meant f..for us to land on... oh, what was that planet called?"

"M...my Tallests!" Zim finally exclaimed. "Let me help you! I could-"

"You could what, put us out of our misery?" Red said suddenly.

"Wh-what? No! I could get you back to my base and-"

"You couldn't do that!" Purple laughed weakly. "You couldn't even make a proper disguise! You could never do _anything_ worthwhile, Zim!"

"But... _what?_" Zim felt hurt, disappointed, and shocked at the same time. Never had his Tallests talk to him like that! Well... actually... they had. But he always thought they were joking! Maybe that was it. They were just joking!

But, looking into their eyes he knew that they were serious.

His face fell, and they kept talking.

"You were always a failure!" Red laughed.

"You blew up _your own planet!_" Purple chimed in.

"Heck, you blew _yourself_ up!"

"More than once!"

"Why do you think we sentenced you to work in Foodcourtia?"

"Why did you have to _come back?"_

"That mission we put you on?"

"Fake."

"We didn't even think Earth existed!"

"It was a total surprise when you landed."

"We'd hoped you would die on the way."

"It's true."

"We could care less about conquering Earth!"

_"We just wanted you dead."_

Something inside Zim cracked. He was feeling so many emotions, they mixed together until his face was expressionless. But, there was one emotion that rose above all the others. He felt his teeth sharpen, his skin warm with glowing power.

Almost like someone else was controlling him, he raised his arm and channeled all his energy to his hand.

"I think... he's going to kill us." Purple said quietly.

"Since when did his hand glow?" Red asked. "And he's... so tall."

"What happened? How did you become so much... better?"

Zim cocked his head to the side, but otherwise betrayed no emotion.

"I think what happened..." he paused as he considered. "Is that I... _became more powerful than you._"

His hand glowed brighter.

"Bastards." he growled, sounding like some powerful, primitive creature. There was a bright light, and Zim's world grew black.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Zim awoke in his own house and saw that his gloves were torn to shreds and his clawed hands were charred underneath. He noticed that the charred marks were slowly erasing themselves. He looked over and saw Gir watching TV, grinning stupidly, and that there was a note on the floor by the couch he was on.

He looked at it.

_Zim._

_Found you passed out. What happened? Melted metal everywhere. Strange gooey substance._

_Hope you're fine, I guess. Didn't know what to do. Gir dragged you home. Left him to it._

_Collected interesting data from experiment. Take a day off, we'll talk about it Friday._

_-Dib._

Zim growled lightly, crumpled up the note, and threw it to the other side of the room. It hit Gir in the head, but he didn't react. Zim rolled over to his other side and studied his hands. His gloves were ruined, but the burn marks were gone.

He drifted off to sleep, not even thinking about the fact that he had committed two murders that day.

**PS: Don't forget to vote! Please? 0^0 (Isn't dat cuuutee?)**


	47. Bragging! The Musical!

**Yay! I get to force them to sing a duet! Thank you all for voting! I just really wanted to do that because I knew some people may find it strange. So, all you people who usually skip this, go ahead, nothing important today, just replying to a few anonymous people.**

**The first one left the name box blank, so, all you'll see is a space and a colon.**

**:0.0 Well, it's not really a ZADR story (although I admit I enjoy those. Yaoi faann!) but..er... yeah, my friend made me learn what 'lemon' meant in fanfictions the **_**hard**_** way, also I've never done that, this story is rated T only for language and wonderful gory violence (yay!) so I can't do that. It makes me uncomfortable just **_**reading**_** those, but thanks for the suggestion! You were the last vote! Woo!**

**KUUUUUUUUUUUURT: Best. Name. Evah. I know you voted no, and I totally respect that! You can skip until the next chapter if you like, or just read the first and last few paragraphs, if you can't go like on youtube or playlist or something to listen to the song, it's kind of a lost cause.**

**she-who-will-not-log-in: That'd be really cool! I really have my heart set on another song, but that is a great idea! Hmm... I think I may listen to that again! *later* I...have listened to that... at least fifty times...XD**

Zim leaned against a tree at the edge of the village, waiting for Gaz to get over whatever she was upset about and come back. He needed her to just hurry up and let them do a ritual or whatever they were doing so they could just _leave._ The last few days had been almost pure torture.

_Almost..._

Gaz came out of the trees, looking annoyed and confused.

"Let's get this damn thing over with." she grumbled. She kept walking, completely ignoring the shorter villagers in her path, who moved out of her way and glanced back with a strange expression of anger mixed with admiration.

Zim rolled his eyes and followed after her. When she realized she didn't know where she was going, he passed in front of her and silently led her to the area the leader had told him to go to.

When they reached it, they both stopped abruptly. It was a stage, with several villagers flocked in front of it, waiting. On the stage, a few were holding strange-looking instruments. Zim raised a curious brow and walked up to it. Gaz followed, looking around.

Zim started talking to the apparent musicians. Gaz crossed her arms and looked at the expectant villagers, who had silenced themselves at her glance. She sighed.

"So, what, they're going to sing to us or something?"

"No," Zim said, looking confused. He turned to Gaz.

"They say... _we_ have to sing to _them._"

Gaz made a disgusted face.

**[OK, right here is where you want to go to YouTube or Playlist (dot) com and search the following song: **_**Anything you can do.**_** DON'T do the Annie Get Your Gun version, go to, like, the second one down on youtube. And then just read the next few lines, until it's time to start the video! For the sake of too much reading, use your imagination for most of the choreography, 'kay? But I did put much of it. You can ignore that if you want.]**

"Uh, no."

"What, you afraid you can't sing as well as me?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

Gaz scowled.

***Vid starts here!***

"Anything _you_ can do, _I_ can do _better."_

"Ha!" he laughed a short laugh, and on that the musicians made one, loud note to accompany it.

"I can do anything better than you!"

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can."

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can."

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can, yes I caaaan!" Gaz found herself singing loud and long, and she didn't care.

Zim rolled his eyes and smirked, deciding however humiliating it would be, he would sing, too.

"Anything you can be, I can be greater! Sooner or later I'm greater than you,"

"No, you're not,"

"Yes I am,"

"No, you're not,"

"Yes I am,"

"No, you're not!"

"Yes I am, yes I aaamm!"

Pretending to shoot a gun at the sky, he sang: "I could shoot a partridge, with a single cartridge!"

Gaz scoffed.

"_I_ could shoot a sparrow, with a bow and arrow!"

"I can live on bread and cheese!"

"And only on that?" Gaz asked.

"Yep!"

"So can a rat."

Zim heard a giggle and saw that Kama had joined the audience.

"Any note you can sing, I can sing higher!" he challenged.

"I can sing any note higher than you!"

Then, getting higher with each line they continued.

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can,"

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can,"

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can,"

"No you caaaan't!"

Gaz drew in a breath.

"Yes III, CAAAAAAAAN!"

Zim blinked.

"How do you sing that high?"

"I'm a GIRL!"

He scoffed. "Could-a fooled me."

He heard more laughter and continued.

"Anything you can say I can say softer,"

"I can say anything softer than you,"

"No you can't," he sang softer.

"Yes I can," Gaz sang even softer.

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can,"

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can, **YES I CAN!"** She burst out.

Zim reeled back, then shook his head.

"I can drink my liquor, faster then a flicker!" he stated.

"I can drink it quicker, and get even _sicker._" Gaz countered.

"I can open any safe!"

"Without bein' caught?"

"You bet!"

"That's what I thought, ya crook."

Gaz noticed the laughter now; it was hysterical. She rolled her eyes as Zim continued.

"Any note you can hold, I can hold longer,"

"I can hold any note longer than you."

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can,"

"No you can't,"

"Yes I can,"

"No you caaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn't-"

Gaz took a deep breath and started.

"Yes I can, YES I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I

_can!"_

Zim stared for a moment.

"Yes you caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

He cocked his head. "Where do you keep all that air?"

Gaz put her hand to her chest and exhaled loudly.

"Oh..." he looked away, then continued.

"Anything you can say, I can say faster,"

"I can say anything faster than you."

"...Noyoucan't,"

"YesIcan."

"Noyoucan't,"

"YsIcn,"

"Nyucn't,"

"Yscn,"

"Ncnt,"

"Ysc!Ysc!"

She threw up her arms in victory. Zim scowled in defeat.

"I can jump a hurdle," he boasted.

"I can wear a girdle," she suggested.

"I can knit a sweater,"

"I can fill it better,"

"I can do most anything!"

"Can you bake a pie?"

"No..."

"Neither can I..."

Kama laughed harder and fell over to the ground. The surrounding villagers glanced at her curiously. They obviously didn't understand the joke.

"Anything you can sing, I can sing sweeter," Zim challenged.

"I can sing anything sweeter than you,"

They paused and Zim smiled.

"No, you, caaaan't!" he sang sweetly.

"Yes, I cahahahahahahaaan,"

"No, you caaaaan't,"

"Yes III caaaaann!"

"Nooo you caaan't!"

"Yes I caan!"

"No you can't,"

"Oh, yes I caaan!"

"No you CAN'T CAN'T CAN'T!"Zim said, stomping forward with every 'can't.'

"Yes I **CAN CAN CAN!**" Gaz did likewise.

"Noo," Zim sang.

"Yesss!," Gaz sang at the same time.

"You," "I,"

"CAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

"'T!" Zim added.

The villagers stayed quiet for a moment. Gaz blinked. Had she really just been... _singing?_

After a moment, they started clapping. Quietly at first, then louder and louder until it was nearly deafening. Zim looked over to Gaz, smiling, but his face fell.

She was looking around the audience, her face red. She blinked, and he could've sworn he saw... was that a _tear?_

Gaz's eyes flickered in his direction. She turned sharply and ran off the stage.

**Note: Now, I'm guessing before this chapter most of you hadn't realized that they had been drinking age for almost 1,000 years! Also, I typed this all out. Feel honored!**


	48. Romantic End to a Character!

**SuperH31265: Got this right when I was about to update! XD**

**soulstealer: It's alright if you didn't like it. It was a one time thing anyway. I'm really glad you reviewed!**

Gaz ran, hearing Zim follow her from behind. She glanced backwards and saw Kama, pushing through the crowd with a worried look on her face. She turned and kept running.

Zim caught up with her at the edge of the village and put his hand on her shoulder from behind.

Gaz shrugged it off. She was glowing faintly with her black aura.

"That... was... totally... _humiliating._" she growled.

"You're a good singer, you know," he said suddenly.

Gaz turned, surprised.

"What?"

Suddenly, they were surrounded by villagers with spears. Probably the warriors of the tribe.

Zim asked something in Irken. One of the warriors shouted something back, and he tensed. Before Gaz knew what was happening, Zim had jumped in front of her protectively, in a battle stance, his hands glowing with green energy.

"Hey!" Gaz said. "What the hell is going on?"

Zim growled.

"I need some answers here! Hellooo?"

"They want to force you to marry the chief's son,"

Gaz grimaced, then tensed in a battle stance of her own, back-to-back with Zim.

"That is _so_ not going to happen,"

She had no time to think about why Zim reacted so suddenly. She growled.

"WAIT! WAIT!" Kama ran between Gaz and the warriors she was about to blast to the moon.

"WHAT?" She yelled impatiently. Her hands brightened and Kama flinched, but stood her ground.

"Don't hurt them! It's their culture!"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about?"

"Every few years, they get a new member of the tribe or two, some people who were banned or ran away from the empire!"

"Uh huh. So?"

"They have a custom that if the travelers want to go on their own way, one of their group has to marry one of the important people in the tribe!"

"Yeah, well, we're an exception." Gaz grinned evilly at the thought of destroying these warriors who had taken her captive. Her hands brightened further.

"NO!" Kama yelled. She sighed.

"We're not going against their customs, my Lord."

"Well I ain't marryin' no 'Chief-to-be,' Deafy."

"No..." she looked straight into her eyes and smiled sadly. "I will."

Behind them, Zim blinked.

"Well..." the fire on his fingertips went out and he stood up straight, tapping his chin and pondering this decision.

"It _is_ a possibility."

Kama gasped slightly and looked down at her feet. Gaz looked back at Zim, then to Kama again.

"Weeelll..." she said. "If... if you're sure..."

"I am." Kama looked up and smiled. "I fell in love with their culture, with their religion, with their way of life! I'd do anything to stay here and have someplace to belong to. I fit right in!"

Suddenly, she ran up and hugged Gaz's legs, the only place she could reach.

"Thank you for banning me!"

Gaz looked down, unsure what to do for a moment. After a moment, she kicked Kama off. She skidded for a second, but remained on her feet.

"Alright." Gaz said. "Go tell them you're staying. I sure as hell can't do that."

Kama smiled and talked to one of the warriors. He nodded as she spoke, then yelled something out. The other warriors cheered loudly and went off, probably to tell their leader that someone had agreed to the marriage.

Kama walked up to Zim and motioned for him to bend down so they could talk. Gaz watched through narrowed eyes.

"I just wanted to say... thank you."

"Um... you're welcome."

Kama bit her lip and looked down. Zim stared at her expectantly, wondering if she had anything else to say. It sure looked like it.

Kama looked up. Before Zim knew what was happening, she leaned forward and kissed him lightly. She walked away, crying silently.

Zim stood up with widened eyes. He glanced at Gaz and looked at her curiously.

She looked shocked. Then, that shock turned into anger. She growled, walked up to him, slapped him as hard as she could, then stomped away. He sat on the ground, rubbing his cheek where she had hit him.

"Pick your ass of the ground and let's get going. I want to be as far away from you as possible. As _soon_ as possible," she grumbled, walking angrily through the woods.

Zim stood and shook his head. He followed her into the woods.

_Must be a full moon or something,_ he thought. _Apparently women everywhere go absolutely insane today._

**Note: Dun dun duuunnn! Ooh, dramaaa! Kama's true feelings revealed before she says goodbye forever! The traditional slap that causes someone to really think about the cause! Gaz revealed to be a good singer! What totally exiting thing will happen next? Not even **_**I**_** know! Well, I do. Kind of.**


	49. More Drama! How Exiting!

**I just couldn't help myself! The drama!**

**OMGeezers: *Gasp* You're psychic!**

Zim walked behind Gaz, not particularly comfortable with the angry silence emanating from her. He decided that no matter how mad she was over God knows what, he would get her to talk.

"So, what were you so mad about?"

"Did they tell you." It was more of an angry command than a question.

"What?" It caught Zim off guard.

"Did they tell you!"

"Tell me what?"

"How to get out of the forest!"

"Oh, uh, yeah."

Silence.

"Well?" She demanded, still not looking at him. "Fucking moron," she muttered.

"Oh, well, we keep going this way, then turn to the right at the next freshwater spring, I think. After that, we keep walking until we get to the edge."

She didn't reply. She just kept walking.

Zim grabbed her arm and she turned abruptly, rage burning in her eyes.

"What the hell is your problem?"

"Don't touch me!" She tried to shake him off, but his grip was too strong.

"Tell me!"

"Tell you what?"

"What I did wrong this time?"

She stopped struggling and glared at him. Zim knew she was hiding something under her anger, but he couldn't tell what it was.

"What did I do wrong?" he repeated, calmer this time.

Gaz cast her eyes down.

"You wouldn't understand, Zim." She gently pulled her arm out of his grasp and walked in her original direction.

"You just wouldn't," she repeated quietly.

He stared after her for a minute, then sat down on a big rock and shook his head.

Suddenly, his acute hearing picked something up, and it was getting louder. Soon, he recognized it.

"WOOOHOOHOOHEEEE!"

Gir, still in his little bubble, came crashing in through the trees. He crashed against the trunk of one and fell. His eyes momentarily blacked out as he sat up, cradling his head in his hand.

"Hey, Gir," Zim said. "Where have you been all this time?"

Gir shrugged.

"I dunno." He looked around. "Where Gazzy go?"

Zim sighed, stood up, and walked in Gaz's direction, followed by Gir.

They caught up with her soon. She was hanging upside down by her legs in a tree. She raised a brow when they came by.

"Hello," Zim said awkwardly.

"'Sup,"

"Look, whatever I did-"

"Dude...just...let it drop, okay?"

"Um...alright." He sat on the ground and rested his arms on his bent knees. Gir ran around, then started repeatedly hitting the tree to get up to Gaz. They sat like that for a while.

There wasn't much to think about. Zim's mind wandered to the fact that Gaz's skirt was so tight that it didn't fall down when she was upside down, but forced himself to change the subject.

"So..." he said.

"So..."

"SOURDOUGH!" Gir chimed in.

"We should probably get going, huh?" Gaz did a flip and landed on the ground in front of the tree. She walked off in the direction they were going before, Zim following closely behind. Gir rolled after them gleefully.

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

"I think that's the edge of the forest over there." Gaz said an hour or two later, peering through the trees.

"Really?" Zim said. "Oh, yeah! It is!"

"Oh, thank-"

With no warning, Gaz was cut off with a huge explosion that blew her back. She hit her head and felt excruciating pain throughout her skull.


	50. Flashback 8

**Mwuahahahahaaa! I am torturing you with a flashback in the middle of this suspenseful part! HAAAA!**

**Hehe. Halloween sugar. People say I'm too old to trick-or-treat. I say, you're never too old for free food.**

**MEH: HORRIBLE! NOOOOO! T . T**

**Tacos: Aww, don't feel bad! She's gone and there ain't nuthin you could do about it! We're all happay!**

**sighs and blows up:... Yay!**

**Soulstealer: Lolz, I do dramatic pauses too! (Actually, I just say I do to cover up the fact that I completely forgot what word ta say...) XD**

**Soulstealer: You can steal my cousin's soul... I wouldn't mind... ;)**

**Soul stealer: Yes, I am replying to each of these individually! Cause I'm awesome like that! Anyway... YOU SHALL NOT KNOW FOR...A...WHILE! MWUAHAHAHAHAAA!**

**Update: Gasp! Must... kill...all...bananas... I SHALL DO IT, SO THAT NOBODY ELSE IS FORCED TO EAT THE BANANA OF EVIL! (I, er, have a **_**history**_** with bananas... XD)**

***Later note***

**Sorry, peoples, this would've been updated much sooner, but I had a medical emergency. You know how those go, you call 911, you spend all day in several different hospitals, and in the end you get a new mattress! So, here it is! A flashback to torture you further because it really doesn't help the story at all and you still don't know why Gaz's head seemed to explode in the last chapter!**

**Woo!**

**A lot can happen in a thousand years, and sometimes a flashback is a good way to go.**

**This is one of those times.**

Dib sat in his room, elbows on his desk and his head in his hands.

Gaz had gone missing. That was clear. Everything else...

He stood up and paced the room. He wasn't just going to sit there and do nothing while his little sister was most likely in the hands of some kidnapping creep, who must have been pretty powerful if he could keep _Gaz_ in check.

His sister had been gone for what, three weeks? Seemed about right.

Now, what happened the day she hadn't come home?

! ! !

_Dib heard a door slam, and Gaz came downstairs, her angry squinted-eyed expression possibly angrier than usual._

_"Where ya going?" he asked, sitting on the couch and watching TV._

_"Shut up, Dib. Your voice is stupid." came the usual response._

_Dib shrugged._

_"Fine. But it's that time of the year, y'know."_

_"Yeah, whatever."_

_There was a pause as Gaz grabbed her jacket and started to open the door._

_"Wait!"_

_"What?" she said sharply._

_"What's got you so upset?"_

_Gaz sneered, and if her eyes weren't squinted shut, Dib was sure she would've rolled them._

_"Zim," her voice dripped with loathing. She said it as if that should explain everything. She walked out the front door and slammed it behind her, leaving Dib behind, alone and wondering._

! ! !

_Of course,_ he thought. _I always knew it had something to do with him after all. But what?_

He grabbed his cloak and slipped it on over his T-shirt. He walked out of his house and walked briskly over to Zim's "normal" house. It was small and green, with a purple roof, door, and windows. It leaned slightly and had way too many lawn gnomes and flamingo things.

Dib looked up at the men's room symbol on the door. He knocked loudly and Gir opened the door. He smiled, a strange gooey substance leaking out of his mouth.

"Err, hey Gir," Dib said. "Where's Zim?"

"He downstairs. He made me leave... said he had some thinkin' ta do." Gir shrugged.

"Wanna watch the Angry Monkey Show wit me?"

"No, I just want to talk to Zim..."

He tried getting past the little robot, but he suddenly revealed several weapons and explosives.

Gir held out his hand. "None may pass."

Dib stared at him for a second.

"Please?"

Gir retracted his weapons.

"Okay! Follow me." he turned around and walked to the 'kitchen,' if you could call it that, his little feet squeaking inexplicably.

He pointed to the toilet in the back of the kitchen, under the 'I Eat Food' poster. Dib felt himself twitch, then walked up to the toilet. He reluctantly stepped in it and started spinning around and around.

"What the craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!" he yelled as he spun downwards.

He steadied himself when he saw he was in some kind of purple elevator.

"What kind of..." he trailed off, not really worried enough about it to finish. What he was worried about was his sister, his main priority.

He walked around Zim's underground base until he found him, in front of a large screen. He was doubled over, struggling with something, clutching the controls in front of him for dear life.

"Zim!" Dib ran up to him and touched his arm, surprised when he didn't push him away.

"What's wrong?" he looked at his face. He was clenching his teeth, sweat clear on his forehead. He wrenched open his eyes to look at Dib.

"I...Don't..." suddenly, he relaxed and fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Dib knelt next to him.

"Don't... don't worry about me right now." he said quietly. "Just..." he pointed to the big screen.

"What?"

"I believe I may have found the Dib-sister..." Zim closed his eyes and his breathing slowed.

He was asleep.

Dib turned to the screen and cautiously pressed a button that was glowing red. The screen suddenly blinked on and showed a series of Irken symbols. Bigger symbols at the bottom flashed on and off, a sentence with a question mark at the end.

Dib blinked. He pressed the button again, and the symbols were replaced by a picture of a tall, purple-haired woman standing in front of the screen, a cruel expression on her face.

"Hey!" she barked. "The connection's broken. I can't see who's trying to contact me."

"Sorry, my lord. We'll see if we can fix it." said an off-screen voice.

Dib stepped back.

"G...Gaz? What...?"

The off-screen voice spoke again. "My lord, there is no way to repair the connection. The error is on their end, which we cannot hack into."

"Cut off the connection, then! I don't have time to-" then, the screen blanked out.

Dib turned to Zim, who had sat up carefully, watching.

"You..." Dib pointed to him. "You... you are going to train. You are going to do whatever it takes to _bring her back._"

"And why, Dib-stink, would I do _that?_"

"Because if you don't..." Dib's eyes were suddenly full of certainty. "If you don't, I'm going to kill you."

"And how do you suppose you'll do that?" Zim's voice wasn't taunting. It was calm and curious.

"I've studied you. I'll find your kryptonite. I'll _destroy_ you, Zim."

Zim stood up.

"Can't argue with that. Usual time tomorrow. Be here. If you haven't noticed, I've fixed my base since it...blew up."

Dib walked away. Zim watched him leave.

If only Dib knew he would've done it without the threat anyway.

**Oh, and thank you ThatCrazyGirl for reviewing on a different story that is finished 'n stuff!**


	51. Horrible Speech and I apologize!

**Well well well, look who's still alive! X3 Not quite sure what point of view this may be...we'll just see, now won't we? XD**

**Also, I FEEL HORRIBLE! I didn't mean to abandon you and I've changed this before note like fifty times. NO MATTER! Winter break has finally started, so I arm myself with some Hatsune Miku music, a keyboard, and several hours of staying up later than is healthy. I shall update and...stuff!**

**Soulstealer:... I like you. XD And chicken. WHAT A COINCIDENCE! XD**

**CalIsCurrentlyBeingEpic: Yay! Epicness!**

**Happy: I'm glad!**

**Confused: The banana must die. And omg is a good expression. And Gaz... she's just that epic of a win.**

**Annoyed: Cliffhanger is what I do!**

**Sympathy: He dun like Zim. And everything is fine! Yush.**

**Realization: WOOOOO! X3**

**Cal:... HI CAL! I ****NOW YOU'RE NOT AN EMOTION BUT HII! XD *takes Zim* You can have him back as soon as I'm done, promise! HI QUEL! YOU'LL GET HIM BACK! I PROMISE! 'TILL THEN I'VE PAINTED STEVE GREEN FOR YOU! AND GAVE HIM A WIG!**

**Nicky: I should check that out when I'm done witht his chapter! Thank you so much!**

**Soulstealer: *haha, yesh, the second time because I'm a lazy asshole and they were forced to review twice to get me to do anything! ^.^* Ish you drunk? Tsk, tsk, giggle! XD Anyway, don't worrya bout the Dib-ness, I have plans for him! XD Yush.**

**Whatever: I FEEL LIKE A HORRIBLE PERSON! I sorry... And I swear I intend to finish this! I never abandoned this I just got...lazy... **

Zim noticed the explosion a split second before Gaz did and put himself between her and the large rock she was about to be blown back into. He winced and squinted his eyes shut when her head hit his squeedley-spooch. He subconsciously realized that if she had hit the rock at that force, she probably would've fell into an immediate coma.

Or worse.

But he couldn't think about that now. Even though Gaz had hit him instead of the wall, she had still hit him pretty hard, and would be be out for a moment or two. Zim forced his eyes open to see if he could find out what was going on. He half wished he hadn't.

Uniformed people of all races, shapes, and sizes were standing and sitting on hover crafts just outside the forest. Zim grimaced. He leaned Gaz against the rock and crouched in front of her instinctively.

A small blue-ish person with horns stood on the one closest to them, snarling. Zim looked at him expectantly, wondering if he was about to go into some lame speech. It would probably be one of those things that sounds way better in your head than out loud.

It was.

"Several generations of The Resisty have been fighting for control!" He paused 'dramatically.'

"Control from who, you may ask? From those who try to conquer the universe! We-"

"Yes, yes, that is fantastic. Look, I was just leaving, so..." Zim started, then trailed off at a slightly disturbing look from the blue-ish person.

"We are here to destroy this tyrant!" he continued.

"That'd be a little hard, considering she's-"

"And since you are clearly in cahoots with her,"

"What the hell does 'cahoots' even mean? How do you know if I don't-"

"We shall destroy you as well!"

"Once again, that'll be a little hard since-"

"See, we got these new missiles with bombs built in! They're pretty neat!"

He pointed to a missile launcher. Zim looked at it.

"Ooh, that _is_ neat..." he said. "And shiny..."

The blue person nodded. He looked back at his crew.

"Okay, fire in...um...I don't have a watch so...now would be...good..."

One of the people pushed a button and the missile launcher started to glow.

"Shit," Zim muttered. He pulled the still unconscious Gaz out of the way just as the missile skimmed past. He lifted her into his arms and quickly took cover in a partially hidden hole in the rock that he had just noticed.

As he sat in the dark, looking down at her face, which was, for once, not set in a scowl, he realized that although they may be immortal, as far as they could tell, those weapons wouldn't exactly be _convenient_. He saw a mental image flash through his head, of them laying in pools of blood on the forest floor, nobody coming to help them.

He shuddered. For the first time, he didn't feel like his invincibility was a gift.

Now, it felt more like a curse.

**That probably wasn't worth waiting for... I'm such a fail as a person! TT - TT**


End file.
